a&SBKR 


The  Story  and  Philosophy 
"of  "Mormonism" 

By  JAMES  E.  TALMAGE 


BANCROFT    LIBRARY 


The 
Story  of  "Mormonism" 


AND 


The  Philosophy  of 
"Mormonism" 


BY 


JAMES  E.  TALMAGE 

D.  Sc.,  F.  R.  S.  E. 


PRINTED  AND  PUBLISHED   BY 

THE  DESERET  NEWS 

SALT  LAKE  CITY 

1914 


Copyright  1914 

by 

JOSEPH  F.  SMITH 

Trustec-in-Trust  for 

the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 

of  Latter-day  Saints 


•  c, 
OAST; 


PREFACE 

THE  STORY  OF  "MORMONISM"  as  presented 
in  the  following  pages  is  a  revised  and  recon- 
structed version  of  lectures  delivered  by  Dr. 
James  E.  Talmage  at  the  University  of  Mich- 
igan, Cornell  University,  and  elsewhere.  The 
"Story"  first  appeared  in  print  as  a  lecture  re- 
port in  the  Improvement  Era,  and  was  after- 
ward issued  as  a  booklet  from  the  office  of  the 
Millennial  Star,  Liverpool.  In  1910  it  was 
issued  in  a  revised  form  by  the  Bureau  of  In- 
formation at  Salt  Lake  City,  in  which  edition 
the  lecture  style  of  direct  address  was  changed 
to  the  ordinary  form  of  essay.  The  present  or 
third  American  edition  has  been  revised  and 
amplified  by  the  author. 

The  "Story"  has  been  translated  and 
published  abroad.  Already  versions  have 
appeared  in  Swedish,  modern  Greek,  and 
Russian. 


4  Preface. 

The  subject  matter  of  THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF 
"MORMONISM"  was  first  presented  as  a  lecture 
delivered  by  Dr.  Talmage  before  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Denver.  It  appeared  later 
in  the  columns  of  the  Improvement  Era,  and 
translations  have  been  published  in  pamphlet 
form  in  the  Danish  and  German  languages. 

The  present  publication  of  these  two  produc- 
tions is  made  in  response  to  a  steady  demand. 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 

March,  1914. 


The  Story  of  "Mormonism. 


I. 


IN  the  minds  of  many,  perhaps  of  the  major- 
ity of  people,  the  scene  of  the  "Mormon" 
drama  is  laid  almost  entirely  in  Utah;  indeed, 
the  terms  "Mormon  question"  and  "Utah 
question"  have  been  often  used  interchangeably. 
True  it  is,  that  the  development  of  "Mormon- 
ism"  is  closely  associated  with  the  history  of 
the  long-time  Territory  and  present  State  of 
Utah;  but  the  origin  of  the  system  must  be 
sought  in  regions  far  distant  from  the  present 
gathering-place  of  the  Latter-day  Saints,  and 
at  a  period  antedating  the  acquisition  of  Utah 
as  a  part  of  our  national  domain. 

The  term  "origin"  is  here  used  in  its  com- 
monest application — that  of  the  first  stages 
apparent  to  ordinary  observation — the  visible 
birth  of  the  system.  But  a  long,  long  period 
of  preparation  had  led  to  this  physical  com- 
ing forth  of  the  "Mormon"  religion,  a  period 
marked  by  a  multitude  of  historical  events, 


The  Story  of  "Mormonism.3 


some  of  them  preceding  by  centuries  the  earthly 
beginning  of  this  modern  system  of  prophetic 
trust.  The  "Mormon"  people  regard  the  estab- 
lishment of  their  Church  as  the  culmination  of 
a  great  series  of  notable  events.  To  them  it  is 
the  result  of  causes  unnumbered  that  have  op- 
erated through  ages  of  human  history,  and 
they  see  in  it  the  cause  of  many  developments 
yet  to  appear.  This  to  them  establishes  an  inti- 
mate relationship  between  the  events  of  their 
own  history  and  the  prophecies  of  ancient 
times. 

In  reading  the  earliest  pages  of  "Mormon" 
history,  we  are  introduced  to  a  man  whose 
name  will  ever  be  prominent  in  the  story  of 
the  Church — the  founder  of  the  organization 
by  common  usage  of  the  term,  the  head  of  the 
system  as  an  earthly  establishment — one  who 
is  accepted  by  the  Church  as  an  ambassador 
specially  commissioned  of  God  to  be  the  first 
revelator  of  the  latter-day  dispensation.  This 
man  is  Joseph  Smith,  commonly  known  as 
the  "Mormon"  prophet.  Rarely  indeed  does 
history  present  an  organization,  religious,  so- 
cial, or  political,  in  which  an  individual  holds 
as  conspicuous  and  in  all  ways  as  important 


Joseph  Smith,  the  Prophet. 


a  place  as  does  this  man  in  the  development 
of  "Mormonism."  The  earnest  investigator, 
the  sincere  truth-seeker,  can  ignore  neither  the 
man  nor  his  work;  for  the  Church  under  con- 
sideration has  risen  from  the  testimony  sol- 
emnly set  forth  and  the  startling  declarations 
made  by  this  person,  who,  at  the  time  of  his 
earliest  announcements,  was  a  farmer's  boy  in 
the  first  half  of  his  teens.  If  his  claims  to  or- 
dination under  the  hands  of  divinely  com- 
missioned messengers  be  fallacious,  forming 
as  they  form  the  foundation  of  the  Church 
organization,  the  superstructure  cannot  stand; 
if,  on  the  other  hand,  such  declarations  be  true, 
there  is  little  cause  to  wonder  at  the  phenom- 
enally rapid  rise  and  the  surprising  stability  of 
the  edifice  so  begun. 

Joseph  Smith  was  born  at  Sharon,  Vermont, 
in  December,  1805.  He  was  the  son  of  in- 
dustrious parents,  who  possessed  strong  re- 
ligious tendencies  and  tolerant  natures.  For 
generations  his  ancestors  had  been  laborers, 
by  occupation  tillers  of  the  soil;  and  though 
comfortable  circumstances  had  generally  been 
their  lot,  reverses  and  losses  in  the  father's 
house  had  brought  the  family  to  poverty;  so 


8  The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

that  from  his  earliest  days  the  lad  Joseph  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  pleasures  and  pains 
of  hard  work.  He  is  described  as  having  been 
more  than  ordinarily  studious  for  his  years; 
and  when  that  powerful  wave  of  religious  agi- 
tation and  sectarian  revival  which  character- 
ized the  first  quarter  of  the  last  century, 
reached  the  home  of  the  Smiths,  Joseph  with 
others  of  the  family  was  profoundly  affected. 
The  household  became  somewhat  divided  on 
the  subject  of  religion,  and  some  of  the  mem- 
bers identified  themselves  with  the  more  pop- 
ular sects;  but  Joseph,  while  favorably  im- 
pressed by  the  Methodists  in  comparison  with 
others,  confesses  that  his  mind  was  sorely 
troubled  over  the  contemplation  of  the  strife 
and  tumult  existing  among  the  religious  bodies ; 
and  he  hesitated.  He  tried  in  vain  to  solve 
the  mystery  presented  to  him  in  the  warring 
factions  of  what  professed  to  be  the  Church  of 
Christ.  Surely,  thought  he,  these  several 
churches,  opposed  as  they  are  to  one  another 
on  what  appear  to  be  the  vital  points  of  re- 
ligion, cannot  all  be  right.  While  puzzling 
over  this  anomaly  he  chanced  upon  this  verse 
in  the  epistle  of  St.  James: 


Joseph  Smith,  the  Prophet. 


"If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of 
God,  that  giveth  to  all  men  liberally,  and  up- 
braideth  not;  and  it  shall  be  given  him/f 

In  common  with  so  many  others,  the  earnest 
youth  found  here  within  the  scriptures,  admo- 
nition and  counsel  as  directly  applicable  to  his 
case  and  circumstances  as  if  the  lines  had  been 
addressed  to  him  by  name.  A  brief  period  of 
hesitation,  in  which  he  shrank  from  the  thought 
that  a  mortal  like  himself,  weak,  youthful,  and 
unlearned,  should  approach  the  Creator  with  a 
personal  request,  was  followed  by  a  humble  and 
contrite  resolution  to  act  upon  the  counsel  of 
the  ancient  apostle.  The  result,  to  which  he 
bore  solemn  record  (testifying  at  first  with 
the  simplicity  and  enthusiasm  of  youth,  after- 
ward confirming  the  declaration  with  man- 
hood's increasing  powers,  and  at  last  volun- 
tarily sealing  the  testimony  with  his  life's 
blood,)  proved  most  startling  to  the  sectarian 
world — a  world  in  which  according  to  popular 
belief  no  new  revelation  of  truth  was  possible. 
It  is  a  surprising  fact  that  while  growth,  pro- 
gress, advancement,  development  of  known 
truths  and  the  acquisition  of  new  ones,  charac- 
terize every  living  science,  the  sectarian  world 


10         The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

has  declared  that  nothing  new  must  be  expected 
as  direct  revelation  from  God. 

The  testimony  of  this  lad  is,  that  in  response 
to  his  supplication,  drawn  forth  by  the  admoni- 
tion of  an  inspired  apostle,  he  received  a  divine 
ministration ;  heavenly  beings  manifested  them- 
selves to  him — two,  clothed  in  purity,  and  alike 
in  form  and  feature.  Pointing  to  the  other, 
one  said,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son,  hear  Him." 
In  answer  to  the  lad's  prayer,  the  heavenly  per- 
sonage so  designated  informed  Joseph  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  dwelt  not  with  warring  sects, 
which,  while  professing  a  form  of  godliness, 
denied  the  power  thereof,  and  that  he  should 
join  none  of  them.  Overjoyed  at  the  glorious 
manifestation  thus  granted  unto  him,  the  boy 
prophet  could  not  withhold  from  relatives  and 
acquaintances  tidings  of  the  heavenly  vision. 
From  the  ministers,  who  had  been  so  energetic 
in  their  efforts  to  convert  the  boy,  he  received, 
to  his  surprise,  abuse  and  ridicule.  "Visions 
and  manifestations  from  God,"  said  they,  "are 
of  the  past,  and  all  such  things  ceased  with  the 
apostles  of  old ;  the  canon  of  scripture  is  full ; 
religion  has  reached  its  perfection  in  plan,  and, 
unlike  all  other  systems  contrived  or  accepted 


Early  Opposition.  11 

by  human  kind,  is  incapable  of  development  or 
growth.  It  is  true  God  lives,  but  He  cares  not 
for  His  children  of  modern  times  as  He  did  for 
those  of  ancient  days;  He  has  shut  Himself 
away  from  the  people,  closed  the  windows  of 
heaven,  and  has  suspended  all  direct  communi- 
cation with  the  people  of  earth." 

The  persecution  thus  originating  with  those 
who  called  themselves  ministers  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ  spread  throughout  the  community; 
and  the  sects  that  before  could  not  agree  to- 
gether nor  abide  in  peace,  became  as  one  in 
their  efforts  to  oppose  the  youth  who  thus  tes- 
tified of  facts,  which  though  vehemently  de- 
nounced, produced  an  effect  that  alarmed  them 
the  more.  And  such  a  spectacle  has  ofttimes 
presented  itself  before  the  world — men  who 
cannot  tolerate  one  another  in  peace  swear  fidel- 
ity and  mutual  support  in  strife  with  a  common 
opponent.  The  importance  of  this  alleged  rev- 
elation from  the  heavens  to  the  earth  is  such  as 
to  demand  attentive  consideration.  If  a  fact, 
it  is  a  full  contradiction  of  the  vague  theories 
that  had  been  increasing  and  accumulating  for 
centuries,  denying  personality  and  parts  to 
Deity. 


12          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

In  1820,  there  lived  one  person  who  knew 
that  the  word  of  the  Creator,  "Let  us  make  man 
in  our  own  image,  after  our  likeness,"  had  a 
meaning  more  than  in  metaphor.  Joseph  Smith, 
the  youthful  prophet  and  revelator  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  knew  that  the  Eternal  Father 
and  the  well-beloved  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  were  in 
form  and  stature  like  unto  perfect  men;  and 
that  the  human  family  was  in  very  truth  of 
divine  origin.  But  this  wonderful  vision  was 
not  the  only  manifestation  of  heavenly  power 
and  personality  made  to  the  young  man,  nor  the 
only  incident  of  the  kind  destined  to  bring  upon 
him  the  fury  of  persecution.  Sometime  after 
this  visitation,  which  constituted  him  a  living 
witness  of  God  unto  men,  and  which  demon- 
strated the  great  fact  that  humanity  is  the  child 
of  Deity,  he  was  visited  by  an  immortal  per- 
sonage who  announced  himself  as  Moroni,  a 
messenger  sent  from  the  presence  of  God.  The 
celestial  visitor  stated  that  through  Joseph  as 
the  earthly  agent  the  Lord  would  accomplish  a 
great  work,  and  that  the  boy  would  come  to  be 
known  by  good  and  evil  repute  amongst  all  na- 
tions. The  angel  then  announced  that  an  an- 
cient record,  engraven  on  plates  of  gold,  lay 


The  Message  of  Moroni.  13 

hidden  in  a  hill  near  by,  which  record  gave  a 
history  of  the  nations  that  had  of  old  inhabited 
the  American  continent,  and  an  account  of  the 
Savior's  ministrations  among  them.  He  further 
explained  that  with  the  plates  were  two  sacred 
stones,  known  as  Urim  and  Thummim,  by  the 
use  of  which  the  Lord  would  bring  forth  a 
translation  of  the  ancient  record.  Joseph 
further  testifies  that  he  was  told  that  if  he  re- 
mained faithful  to  his  trust  and  the  confidence 
reposed  in  him,  he  would  some  day  receive  the 
record  into  his  keeping,  and  be  commissioned 
and  empowered  to  translate  it.  In  due  time 
these  promises  were  literally  fulfilled,  and  the 
modern  version  of  these  ancient  writings  was 
given  to  the  world. 

The  record  proved  to  be  an  account  of  certain 
colonies  of  immigrants  to  this  hemisphere  from 
the  east,  who  came  several  centuries  before  the 
Christian  era.  The  principal  company  was  led 
by  one  Lehi,  described  as  a  personage  of  some 
importance  and  wealth,  who  had  formerly  lived 
at  Jerusalem  in  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  and  who 
left  his  eastern  home  about  600  B.  C.  The  book 
tells  of  the  journeyings  across  the  water  in  ves- 
sels constructed  according  to  revealed  plan,  of 


14          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

the  peoples'  landing  on  the  western  shores  of 
South  America  probably  somewhere  in  Chile,  of 
their  prosperity  and  rapid  growth  amid  the 
bounteous  elements  of  the  new  world,  of  the  in- 
crease of  pride  and  consequent  dissension  ac- 
companying the  accumulation  of  material 
wealth,  and  of  the  division  of  the  people  into 
factions  which  became  later  two  great  nations 
at  enmity  with  one  another.  One  part  follow- 
ing Nephi,  the  youngest  and  most  gifted  son  of 
Lehi,  designated  themselves  Nephites;  the  other 
faction,  led  by  Laman,  the  elder  and  wicked 
brother  of  Nephi,  were  known  as  Lamanites. 

The  Nephites  lived  in  cities,  some  of  which 
attained  great  size  and  were  distinguished  by 
great  architectural  beauty.  Continually  ad- 
vancing northward,  these  people  in  time  occu- 
pied the  greater  part  of  the  valleys  of  the  Orin- 
oco, the  Amazon,  and  the  Magdalena.  During 
the  thousand  years  covered  by  the  Nephite  rec- 
ord, the  people  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
which  is  graphically  described  as  a  neck  of  land 
but  a  day's  journey  from  sea  to  sea,  and  suc- 
cessively occupied  extensive  tracts  in  what  is 
now  Mexico,  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  Eastern  States.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed 


The  American  Aborigines.  15 

that  these  vast  regions  were  all  populated  at  any 
one  time  by  the  Nephites ;  the  people  were  con- 
tinually moving  to  escape  the  depredations  of 
their  hereditary  foes,  the  Lamanites ;  and  they 
abandoned  in  turn  all  their  cities  established 
along  the  course  of  migration.  The  unpreju- 
diced student  sees  in  the  discoveries  of  the  an- 
cient and  now  forest-covered  cities  of  Mexico, 
Central  America,  Yucatan,  and  the  northern 
regions  of  South  America,  collateral  testimony 
having  a  bearing  upon  this  history. 

Before  their  more  powerful  foes,  the  Ne- 
phites dwindled  and  fled ;  until  about  the  year 
400  A.  D.  they  were  entirely  annihilated  after 
a  series  of  decisive  battles,  the  last  of  which  was 
fought  near  the  very  hill,  called  Cumorah,  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  where  the  hidden  rec- 
ord was  subsequently  revealed  to  Joseph  Smith. 

The  Lamanites  led  a  roving,  aggressive  life ; 
kept  few  or  no  records,  and  soon  lost  the  art  of 
history  writing.  They  lived  on  the  results  of 
the  chase  and  by  plunder,  degenerating  in  habit 
until  they  became  typical  progenitors  of  the 
dark-skinned  race,  afterward  discovered  by 
Columbus  and  named  American  Indians. 

The  last  writer  in  the  ancient  record,  and  the 


16          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

one  who  hid  away  the  plates  in  the  hill  Cu- 
morah,  was  Moroni — the  same  personage  who 
appeared  as  a  resurrected  being  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  a  divinely  appointed  messenger 
sent  to  reveal  the  depository  of  the  sacred  docu- 
ments ;  but  the  greater  part  of  the  plates  since 
translated  had  been  engraved  by  the  father  of 
Moroni,  the  Nephite  prophet  Mormon.  This 
man,  at  once  warrior,  prophet  and  historian, 
had  made  a  transcript  and  compilation  of  the 
heterogeneous  records  that  had  accumulated 
during  the  troubled  history  of  the  Nephite  na- 
tion; this  compilation  was  named  on  the  plates 
'The  Book  of  Mormon,"  which  name  has  been 
given  to  the  modern  translation — a  work  that 
has  already  made  its  way  over  most  of  the  civil- 
ized world.  The  translation  and  publication  of 
the  Book  of  Mormon  were  marked  by  many 
scenes  of  trouble  and  contention,  but  success 
attended  the  undertaking,  and  the  first  edition 
of  the  work  appeared  in  print  in  1830. 

The  question,  "What  is  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon?"— a  very  pertinent  one  on  the  part  of 
every  earnest  student  and  investigator  of  this 
phase  of  American  history — has  been  partly  an- 
swered already.  The  work  has  been  derisively 


The  Book  of  Mormon.  17 

called  the  "Mormon  Bible,"  a  name  that  carries 
with  it  the  misrepresentation  that  in  the  faith 
of  this  people  the  book  takes  the  place  of  the 
scriptural  volume  which  is  universally  accepted 
by  Christian  sects.  No  designation  could  be 
more  misleading,  and  in  every  way  more 
untruthful.  The  Latter-day  Saints  have 
but  one  "Bible"  and  that  the  Holy  Bible  of 
Christendom.  They  place  it  foremost  amongst 
the  standard  works  of  the  Church;  they  accept 
its  admonitions  and  its  doctrines,  and  accord 
thereto  a  literal  significance;  it  is  to  them,  and 
ever  has  been,  the  word  of  God,  a  compilation 
made  by  human  agency  of  works  by  various  in- 
spired writers ;  they  accept  its  teachings  in  ful- 
ness, modifying  the  meaning  in  no  wise,  except 
in  the  rare  cas^s  of  undoubted  mistranslation, 
concerning  which  Biblical  scholars  of  all  faiths 
differ  and  criticize ;  and  even  in  such  cases  their 
reverence  for  the  sacred  letter  renders  them 
even  more  conservative  than  the  majority  of 
Bible  commentators  and  critics  in  placing  free 
construction  upon  the  text.  The  historical 
part  of  the  Jewish  scriptures  tells  of  the  divine 
dealings  with  the  people  of  the  eastern  hemi- 
sphere ;  the  Book  of  Mormon  recounts  the  mer- 


18         The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

cies  and  judgments  of  God,  the  inspired  teach- 
ings of  His  prophets,  the  rise  and  fall  of  His 
people  as  organized  communities  on  the  western 
continent. 

The  Latter-day  Saints  believe  the  coming 
forth  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  to  have  been  fore- 
told in  the  Bible,  as  its  destiny  is  prophesied  of 
within  its  own  lids ;  it  is  to  the  people  the  true 
"stick  of  Ephraim"  which  Ezekiel  declared 
should  become  one  with  the  "stick  of  Judah" — 
or  the  Bible.  The  peopk  challenge  the  most 
critical  comparison  between  this  record  of  the 
west  and  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  east,  feeling 
confident  that  no  discrepancy  exists- in  letter  or 
spirit.  As  to  the  original  characters  in  which 
the  record  was  engraved,  copies  were  shown  to 
learned  linguists  of  the  day  and  pronounced 
by  them  as  closely  resembling  the  Reformed 
Egyptian  writing. 

Let  us  revert,  however,  to  the  facts  of  his- 
tory concerning  this  new  scripture,  and  the  re- 
ception accorded  the  printed  volume. 

The  Book  of  Mormon  was  before  the  world ; 
the  Church  circulated  the  work  as  freely  as 
possible.  The  true  account  of  its  origin  was 
rejected  by  the  general  public,  who  thus,  as- 


The  Spaulding  Romance.  19 

sumed  the  responsibility  of  explaining  in  some 
plausible  way  the  source  of  the  record.  Among 
the  many  false  theories  propounded,  perhaps 
the  most  famous  is  the  so-called  Spaulding 
story.  Solomon  Spaulding,  a  clergyman  of 
Amity,  Pennsylvania,  died  in  1816.  He  wrote 
a  romance  to  which  no  name  other  than  "Manu- 
script Story"  was  given,  and  which,  but  for  the 
unauthorized  use  of  the  writer's  name  and  the 
misrepresentation  of  his  motives,  would  never 
have  been  published.  Twenty  years  after  the 
author's  death,  one  Hurlburt,  an  apostate 
"Mormon,"  announced  that  he  had  recognized 
a  resemblance  between  the  "Manuscript  Story" 
and  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  expressed  a  be- 
lief that  the  work  brought  forward  by  Joseph 
Smith  was  nothing  but  the  Spaulding  romance 
revised  and  amplified.  The  apparent  credibil- 
ity of  the  statement  was  increased  by  various 
signed  declarations  to  the  effect  that  the  two 
were  alike,  though  no  extracts  for  comparison 
were  presented.  But  the  "Manuscript  Story" 
was  lost  for  a  time,  and  in  the  absence  of  proof 
to  the  contrary,  reports  of  the  parallelism  be- 
tween the  two  works  multiplied.  By  a  fortu- 
nate circumstance,  in  1884,  President  James  H. 


20          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

Fairchild,  of  Oberlin  College,  and  a  literary 
friend  of  his — a  Mr.  Rice — while  examining  a 
heterogeneous  collection  of  old  papers  which 
had  been  purchased  by  the  gentleman  last 
named,  found  the  original  manuscript  of  the 
"Story." 

After  a  careful  perusal  and  comparison  with 
the  Book  of  Mormon,  President  Fairchild  de- 
clared in  an  article  published  in  the  New  York 
Observer,  February  5,  1885 : 

The  theory  of  the  origin  of  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon in  the  traditional  manuscript  of  Solomon 
Spaulding  will  probably  have  to  be  relinquished. 
*  *  *  Mr.  Rice,  myself,  and  others  com- 
pared it  [the  Spaulding  manuscript]  with  the 
Book  of  Mormon  and  could  detect  no  resem- 
blance between  the  two,  in  general  or  in  detail. 
There  seems  to  be  no  name  nor  incident  com- 
mon to  the  two.  The  solemn  style  of  the  Book 
of  Mormon  in  imitation  of  the  English  scrip- 
tures does  not  appear  in  the  manuscript.  *  *  * 
Some  other  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon  must  be  found  if  any  explana- 
tion is  required. 

The  manuscript  was  deposited  in  the  library 
of  Oberlin  College  where  it  now  reposes.  Still, 


The  Spaulding  Story  Refuted.        21 

the  theory  of  the  "Manuscript  Found,"  as 
Spaulding's  story  has  come  to  be  known,  is  oc- 
casionally pressed  into  service  in  the  cause  of 
anti-"Mormon"  zeal,  by  some  whom  we  will 
charitably  believe  to  be  ignorant  of  the  facts  set 
forth  by  President  Fairchild.  A  letter  of  more 
recent  date,  written  by  that  honorable  gentle- 
man in  reply  to  an  inquiring  correspondent,  was 
published  in  the  Millennial  Star,  Liverpool,  No- 
vember 3,  1898,  and  is  as  follows : 

OBERLIN  COLLEGE,  OHIO, 

October  17,  1895. 

J.  R.  HlNDLEY,  ESQ~., 

Dear  Sir:  We  have  in  our  college  library 
an  original  manuscript  of  Solomon  Spaulding 
— unquestionably  genuine. 

I  found  it  in  1884  in  the  hands  of  Hoii.  L.  L. 
Rice,  of  Honolulu,  Hawaiian  Islands.  He  was 
formerly  state  printer  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  and 
before  that,  publisher  of  a  paper  in  Painesville, 
whose  preceding  publisher  had  visited  Mrs. 
Spaulding  and  obtained  the  manuscript  from 
her.  It  had  lain  among  his  old  papers  forty 
years  or  more,  and  was  brought  out  by  my  ask- 
ing him  to  look  up  anti-slavery  documents 
among  his  papers. 

The  manuscript  has  upon  it  the  signatures  of 
several  men  of  Conneaught,  Ohio,  who  had 


22  The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

heard  Spaulding  read  it  and  knew  it  to  be  his. 
No  one  can  see  it  and  question  its  genuineness. 
The  manuscript  has  been  printed  twice,  at  least ; 
— once  by  the  Mormons  of  Salt  Lake  City,  and 
once  by  the  Josephite  Mormons  of  Iowa.  The 
Utah  Mormons  obtained  the  copy  of  Mr.  Rice, 
at  Honolulu,  and  the  Josephites  got  it  of  me 
after  it  came  into  my  possession. 

This  manuscript  is  not  the  original  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon. 

Yours  very  truly, 

JAMES  H.  FAIRCHILD. 

The  "Manuscript  Story"  has  been  published 
in  full,  and  comparisons  between  the  same  and 
the  Book  of  Mormon  may  be  made  by  anyone 
who  has  a  mind  to  investigate  the  subject.* 


*For  a  fuller  account  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  see 
the  author's  "Articles  of  Faith,"  Lectures  14  and  15 ; 
published  at  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  1913. 


II. 


BUT  we  have  anticipated  the  current  of 
events.  With  the  publication  of  the  Book 
of  Mormon,  opposition  grew  more  intense  to- 
ward the  people  who  professed  a  belief  in  the 
testimony  of  Joseph  Smith.  On  the  6th  of 
April,  1830,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Lat- 
ter-day Saints  was  formally  organized  and  thus 
took  on  a  legal  existence.  The  scene  of  this 
organization  was  Fayette,  New  York,  and  but 
six  persons  were  directly  concerned  as  partici- 
pants. At  that  time  there  may  have  been  and 
probably  were  many  times  that  number  who 
had  professed  adherence  to  the  newly  restored 
faith;  but  as  the  requirements  of  the  law  gov- 
erning the  formation  of  religious  societies  were 
satisfied  by  the  application  of  six,  only  the  spec- 
ified number  formally  took  part.  Such  was  the 
beginning  of  the  Church,  soon  to  be  so  uni- 
versally maligned.  Its  origin  was  small — a 
germ,  an  insignificant  seed,  hardly  to  be  thought 
of  as  likely  to  arouse  opposition.  What  was 
there  to  fear  in  the  voluntary  association  of  six 


24          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

men,  avowedly  devoted  to  peaceful  pursuits  and 
benevolent  purposes  ?  Yet  a  storm  of  persecu- 
tion was  threatened  from  the  earliest  day.  At 
first  but  a  family  affair,  opposition  to  the  work 
has  involved  successively  the  town,  the  county, 
the  state,  the  country,  and  today  the  "Mormon" 
question  has  been  accorded  extended  considera- 
tion at  the  hands  of  the  national  government, 
and  indeed  most  civilized  nations  have  taken 
cognizance  of  the  same. 

Let  us  observe  the  contrast  between  the  be- 
ginning and  the  present  proportions  of  the 
Church.  Instead  of  but  six  regularly  affiliated 
members,  and  at  most  two  score  of  adherents, 
the  organization  numbers  today  many  hundred 
thousand  souls.  In  place  of  a  single  hamlet,  in 
the  smallest  corner  of  which  the  members  could 
have  congregated,  there  now  are  about  seventy 
stakes  of  Zion  and  about  seven  hundred  organ- 
ized wards,  each  ward  and  stake  with  its  full 
complement  of  officers  and  priesthood  organiza- 
tions. The  practise  of  gathering  its  proselytes 
into  one  place  prevents  the  building  up  and 
strengthening  of  foreign  branches;  and  inas- 
much as  extensive  and  strong  organizations  are 
seldom  met  with  abroad,  very  erroneous  ideas 


Work  among  the  Lamanites.          25 

exist  concerning  the  strength  of  the  Church. 
Nevertheless,  the  mustard  seed,  among  the 
smallest  of  all  seeds,  has  attained  the  propor- 
tions of  a  tree,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  are  nest- 
ing in  its  branches;  the  acorn  is  now  an  oak 
offering  protection  and  the  sweets  of  satisfac- 
tion to  every  earnest  pilgrim  journeying  its  way 
for  truth. 

From  the  organization  of  the  Church,  the 
spirit  of  emigration  rested  upon  the  people. 
Their  eyes  were  from  the  first  turned  in  antici- 
pation toward  the  evening  sun — not  merely  that 
the  work  of  proselyting  should  be  carried  on  in 
the  west,  but  that  the  headquarters  of  the 
Church  should  be  there  established.  The  Book 
of  Mormon  had  taught  the  people  the  true  ori- 
gin and  destiny  of  the  American  Indians;  and 
toward  this  dark-skinned  remnant  of  a  once 
mighty  people,  the  missionaries  of  "Mormon- 
ism"  early  turned  their  eyes,  and  with  their 
eyes  went  their  hearts  and  their  hopes. 

Within  three  months  from  the  beginning,  the 
Church  had  missionaries  among  the  Lamanites. 
It  is  notable  that  the  Indian  tribes  have  gener- 
ally regarded  the  religion  of  the  Latter-day 
Saints  with  favor,  seeing  in  the  Book  of  Mor- 


26          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

mon  striking  agreement  with  their  own  tradi- 
tions. 

The  first  well-established  seat  of  the  Church 
was  in  the  pretty  little  town  of  Kirtland,  Ohio, 
almost  within  sight  of  Lake  Erie ;  and  here  soon 
rose  the  first  temple  of  modern  times.  Among 
their  many  other  peculiarities,  the  Latter-day 
Saints  are  characterized  as  a  temple-building 
people,  as  history  proves  the  Israel  of  ancient 
times  to  have  been.  In  the  days  of  their  in- 
fancy as  a  Church,  while  in  the  thrall  of  pov- 
erty, and  amidst  the  persecution  and  direful 
threats  of  lawless  hordes,  they  laid  the  corner- 
stone, and  in  less  than  three  years  thereafter 
they  celebrated  the  dedication  of  the  Kirtland 
Temple,  a  structure  at  once  beautiful  and  im- 
posing. Even  before  this  time,  however,  popu- 
lous settlements  of  Latter-day  Saints  had  been 
made  in  Jackson  County,  Missouri ;  and  in  the 
town  of  Independence  a  site  for  a  great  temple 
had  been  selected  and  purchased;  but  though 
the  ground  has  been  dedicated  with  solemn 
ceremony,  the  people  have  not  as  yet  built 
thereon. 

Within  two  years  of  its  dedication,  the  tem- 
ple in  Kirtland  was  abandoned  by  the  people, 


Modern  Temples.  27 

who  were  compelled  to  flee  for  their  lives  before 
the  onslaughts  of  mobocrats ;  but  a  second  tem- 
ple, larger  and  more  beautiful  than  the  first, 
soon  reared  its  spires  in  the  city  of  Nauvoo, 
Illinois.  This  structure  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
but  the  temple-building  spirit  was  not  to  be 
quenched,  and  in  the  vales  of  Utah  today  are 
four  magnificent  temple  edifices.  The  last  com- 
pleted, which  was  the  first  begun,  is  situated  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  and  is  one  of  the  wonders  and 
beauties  of  that  city  by  the  great  salt  sea.* 

To  the  fervent  Latter-day  Saint,  a  temple  is 
not  simply  a  church  building,  a  house  for  relig- 
ious assembly.  Indeed  the  "Mormon"  temples 
are  rarely  used  as  places  of  general  gatherings. 
They  are  in  one  sense  educational  institutions, 
regular  courses  of  lectures  and  instruction  be- 
ing maintained  in  some  of  them;  but  they  are 
specifically  for  baptisms  and  ordinations,  for 
sanctifying  prayer,  and  for  the  most  sacred 
ceremonies  and  rites  of  the  Church,  particularly 
in  the  vicarious  work  for  the  dead  which  is  a 
characteristic  of  "Mormon"  faith.  And  who 


*For  a  detailed  account  of  modern  temples,  with 
numerous  pictorial  views,  see  "The  House  of  the  Lord," 
by  the  present  author ;  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  1912. 


28          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

that  has  gazed  upon  these  splendid  shrines  will 
say  that  the  people  who  can  do  so  much  in  pov- 
erty and  tribulation  are  insincere?  Bigoted 
they  may  seem  to  those  who  believe  not  as  they 
do ;  fanatics  they  may  be  to  multitudes  who  like 
the  proud  Pharisee  of  old  thank  God  they  are 
not  as  these ;  but  insincere  they  cannot  be,  even 
in  the  judgment  of  their  bitterest  opponent,  if 
he  be  a  creature  of  reason. 

The  clouds  of  persecution  thickened  in  Ohio 
as  the  intolerant  zeal  of  mobs  found  frequent 
expression;  numerous  charges,  trivial  and  seri- 
ous, were  made  against  the  leaders  of  the 
Church,  and  they  were  repeatedly  brought  be- 
fore the  courts,  only  to  be  liberated  on  the  usual 
finding  of  no  cause  for  action.  Meanwhile  the 
march  to  the  west  was  maintained.  Soon 
thousands  of  converts  had  rented  or  purchased 
homes  in  Missouri — Independence,  Jackson 
County,  being  their  center;  but  from  the  first, 
they  were  unpopular  among  the  Missourians. 
Their  system  of  equal  rights  with  their  marked 
disapproval  of  every  species  of  aristocratic  sep- 
aration and  self-aggrandizement  was  declared 
to  be  a  species  of  communism,  dangerous  to  the 
state.  An  inoffensive  journalistic  organ,  The 


Persecution  in  Missouri.  29 

Star,  published  for  the  purpose  of  properly  pre- 
senting the  religious  tenets  of  the  people,  was 
made  the  particular  object  of  the  mob's  rage; 
the  house  of  its  publisher  was  razed  to  the 
ground,  the  press  and  type  were  confiscated, 
and  the  editor  and  his  family  maltreated.  An 
absurd  story  was  circulated  and  took  firm  hold 
of  the  masses  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  prom- 
ised the  western  lands  to  the  people  of  the 
Church,  and  that  they  intended  to  take  posses- 
sion of  these  lands  by  force.  Throughout  the 
book  of  revelations  regarded  by  the  people  as 
law  specially  directed  to  them,  they  are  told  to 
save  their  riches  that  they  may  purchase  the  in- 
heritance promised  them  of  God.  Everywhere 
are  they  told  to  maintain  peace;  the  sword  is 
never  offered  as  their  symbol  of  conquest. 
Their  gathering  is  to  be  like  that  of  the  Jews  at 
Jerusalem — a  pacific  one,  and  in  their  taking 
possession  of  what  they  regard  as  a  land  of 
promise,  no  one  previously  located  there  shall 
be  denied  his  rights. 

A  spirit  of  fierce  persecution  raged  in  Jackson 
and  surrounding  counties  of  Missouri.  An  ap- 
peal was  made  to  the  executive  of  the  state,  but 
little  encouragement  was  returned.  The  lieu- 


30          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

tenant-governor,  Lilburn  W.  Boggs,  afterward 
governor,  was  a  pronounced  "Mormon"-hater, 
and  throughout  the  period  of  the  troubles,  he 
manifested  sympathy  with  the  persecutors. 

One  of  the  circuit  judges  who  was  asked  to 
issue  a  peace  warrant  refused  to  do  so,  but  ad- 
vised the  "Mormons"  to  arm  themselves  and 
meet  the  force  of  the  outlaws  with  organized 
resistance.  This  advice  was  not  pleasing  to  the 
Latter-day  Saints,  whose  religion  enjoined  tol- 
erance and  peace;  but  they  so  far  heeded  it  as 
to  arm  a  small  force ;  and  when  the  outlaws  next 
came  upon  them,  the  people  were  not  entirely 
unprepared.  A  "Mormon"  rebellion  was  now 
proclaimed.  The  people  had  been  goaded  to 
desperation.  The  militia  was  ordered  out,  and 
the  "Mormons"  were  disarmed.  The  mob  was 
unrestrained  in  its  eagerness  for  revenge.  The 
"Mormons"  engaged  able  lawyers  to  institute 
and  maintain  legal  proceedings  against  their 
foes,  and  this  step,  the  right  to  which  one  would 
think  could  be  denied  no  American  citizen, 
called  forth  such  an  uproar  of  popular  wrath  as 
to  affect  almost  the  entire  state. 

It  was  winter ;  but  the  inclemency  of  the  year 
only  suited  the  better  the  purpose  of  the  op- 


Expulsion  from  Jackson  County.        3 1 

pressor.  Homes  were  destroyed,  men  torn  from 
their  families  were  brutally  beaten,  tarred  and 
feathered ;  women  with  babes  in  their  arms  were 
forced  to  flee  half-clad  into  the  solitude  of  the 
prairie  to  escape  from  mobocratic  violence. 
Their  sufferings  have  never  yet  been  fitly  chron- 
icled by  human  scribe.  Making  their  way  across 
the  river,  most  of  the  refugees  found  shelter 
among  the  more  hospitable  people  of  Clay 
County,  and  afterward  established  themselves 
in  Caldwell  County,  therein  founding  the  city 
of  Far  West.  County  and  state  judges,  the 
governor,  and  even  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  were  appealed  to  in  turn  for  redress. 
The  national  executive,  Andrew  Jackson,  while 
expressing  sympathy  for  the  persecuted  people, 
deplored  his  lack  of  power  to  interfere  with  the 
administration  or  non-administration  of  state 
laws ;  the  national  officials  could  do  nothing ;  the 
state  officials  would  do  naught. 

But  the  expulsion  from  Jackson  County  was 
but  a  prelude  to  the  tragedy  soon  to  follow.  A 
single  scene  of  the  bloody  drama  is  known  as 
the  Haun's  Mill  massacre.  A  small  settlement 
had  been  founded  by  "Mormon"  families  on 
Shoal  Creek,  and  here  on  the  30th  of  October, 


32          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

1838,  a  company  of  two  hundred  and  forty  fell 
upon  the  hapless  settlers  and  butchered  a  score. 
No  respect  was  paid  to  age  or  sex ;  grey  heads, 
and  infant  lips  that  scarcely  had  learned  to  lisp 
a  word,  vigorous  manhood  and  immature 
youth,  mother  and  maiden,  fared  alike  in  the 
scene  of  carnage,  and  their  bodies  were  thrown 
into  an  old  well. 

In  October,  1838,  the  Governor  of  Missouri, 
the  same  Lilburn  W.  Boggs,  issued  his  in- 
famous exterminating  order,  and  called  upon 
the  militia  of  the  state  to  execute  it.  The  lan- 
guage of  this  document,  signed  by  the  executive 
of  a  sovereign  state  of  the  Union,  declared  that 
the  "Mormons"  must  be  driven  from  the  state 
or  exterminated.  Be  it  said  to  the  honor  of 
some  of  the  officers  entrusted  with  the  terrible 
commission,  that  when  they  learned  its  true  sig- 
nificance they  resigned  their  authority  rather 
than  have  anything  to  do  with  what  they  desig: 
nated  a  cold-blooded  butchery.  But  tools  were 
not  wanting,  as  indeed  they  never  have  been, 
for  murder  and  its  kindred  outrages.  What 
the  heart  of  man  can  conceive,  the  hand  of  man 
will  find  a  way  to  execute.  The  awful  work 
was  carried  out  with  dread  dispatch.  Oh,  what 


Expulsion  from  Missouri.  33 

a  record  to  read ;  what  a  picture  to  gaze  upon ; 
how  awful  the  fact!  An  official  edict  offering 
expatriation  or  death  to  a  peaceable  community 
with  no  crime  proved  against  them,  and  guilty 
of  no  offense  other  than  that  of  choosing  to 
differ  in  opinion  from  the  masses!  American 
school  boys  read  with  emotions  of  horror  of  the 
Albigenses,  driven,  beaten  and  killed,  with  a 
papal  legate  directing  the  butchery ;  and  of  the 
Vaudois,  hunted  and  hounded  like  beasts  as  the 
effect  of  a  royal  decree ;  and  they  yet  shall  read 
in  the  history  of  their  own  country  of  scenes  as 
terrible  as  these  in  the  exhibition  of  injustice 
and  inhuman  hate. 

In  the  dread  alternative  offered  them,  the 
people  determined  again  to  abandon  their 
homes;  but  whither  should  they  go?  Already 
they  had  fled  before  the  lawless  oppressor  over 
well  nigh  half  a  continent ;  already  were  they 
on  the  frontiers  of  the  country  that  they  had 
regarded  as  the  land  of  promised  liberty.  Thus 
far  every  move  had  carried  them  westward,  but 
farther  west  they  could  not  go  unless  they  went 
entirely  beyond  the  country  of  their  birth,  and 
gave  up  their  hope  of  protection  under  the  Con- 
stitution, which  to  them  had  ever  been  an  in- 


34          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

spired  instrument,  the  majesty  of  which,  as  they 
had  never  doubted,  would  be  some  day  vindi- 
cated, even  to  securing  for  them  the  rights  of 
American  citizens.  This  time  their  faces  were 
turned  toward  the  east;  and  a  host  numbering 
from  ten  to  twelve  thousand,  including  many 
women  and  children,  abandoned  their  homes 
and  fled  before  their  murderous  pursuers,  red- 
dening the  snow  with  bloody  footprints  as  they 
journeyed.  They  crossed  the  Mississippi  and 
sought  protection  on  the  soil  of  Illinois.  There 
their  sad  condition  evoked  for  a  time  general 
commiseration. 

The  press  of  the  state  denounced  the  treat- 
ment of  the  people  by  the  Missourians  and  vin- 
dicated the  character  of  the  "Mormons"  as 
peaceable  and  law-abiding  citizens.  College 
professors  published  expressions  of  their  horror 
over  the  cruel  crusade;  state  officials,  includ- 
ing even  the  governor,  gave  substantial  evi- 
dence of  their  sympathy  and  good  feeling.  This 
lull  in  the  storm  of  outrage  that  had  so  long 
raged  about  them  offered  a  strange  contrast  to 
their  usual  treatment.  Let  it  not  be  thought 
that  all  the  people  of  Illinois  were  their  friends; 
from  the  first,  opposition  was  manifest,  but 


Persecutors  Denounced.  35 

their  condition  was  so  greatly  bettered  that  they 
might  have  thought  the  advent  of  their  Zion  to 
be  near  at  hand. 

I  stated  that  professional  men,  and  even  col- 
lege professors  raised  their  voices  in  commiser- 
ation of  the  "Mormon"  situation  and  in  de- 
nouncing the  "Mormon"  oppressors.  Prof. 
Turner  of  Illinois  College  wrote : 

Who  began  the  quarrel  ?  Was  it  the  "Mor- 
mons?" Is  it  not  notorious  on  the  contrary 
that  they  were  hunted  like  wild  beasts  from 
county  to  county  before  they  made  any  resist- 
ance? Did  they  ever,  as  a  body,  refuse  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws,  when  called  upon  to  do  so, 
until  driven  to  desperation  by  repeated  threats 
and  assaults  by  the  mob?  Did  the  state  ever 
make  one  decent  effort  to  defend  them  as  fel- 
low-citizens in  their  rights  or  to  redress  their 
wrongs  ?  Let  the  conduct  of  its  governors  and 
attorneys  and  the  fate  of  their  final  petitions 
answer !  Have  any  who  plundered  and  openly 
insulted  the  "Mormons"  ever  been  brought  to 
the  punishment  due  to  their  crimes  ?  Let  boast- 
ing murderers  of  begging  and  helpless  infancy 
answer!  Has  the  state  ever  remunerated  even 
those  known  to  be  innocent  for  the  loss  of  either 
their  property  or  their  arms?  Did  either  the 
pulpit  or  the  press  through  the  state  raise  a  note 


36         The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

of  remonstrance  or  alarm  ?  Let  the  clergymen 
who  abetted  and  the  editors  who  encouraged 
the  mob  answer! 

As  a  sample  of  the  press  comments  against 
the  brutality  of  the  Missourians  I  quote  a  para- 
graph from  the  Quincy  Argus,  March  16,.  1839 : 

We  have  no  language  sufficiently  strong  for 
the  expression  of  our  indignation  and  shame  at 
the  recent  transaction  in  a  sister  state,  and  that 
state,  Missouri,  a  state  of  which  we  had  long 
been  proud,  alike  for  her  men  and  history,  but 
now  so  fallen  that  we  could  wish  her  star  strick- 
en from  the  bright  constellation  of  the  Union. 
We  say  we  know  of  no  language  sufficiently 
strong  for  the  expression  of  our  shame  and  ab- 
horrence of  her  recent  conduct.  She  has  writ- 
ten her  own  character  in  letters  of  blood,  and 
stained  it  by  acts  of  merciless  cruelty  and  bru- 
tality that  the  waters  of  ages  cannot  efface.  It 
will  be  observed  that  an  organized  mob,  aided 
by  many  of  the  civil  and  military  officers  of 
Missouri,  with  Gov.  Boggs  at  their  head,  have 
been  the  prominent  actors  in  this  business,  in- 
cited too,  it  appears,  against  the  "Mormons"  by 
political  hatred,  and  by  the  additional  motives 
of  plunder  and  revenge.  They  have  but  too 
well  put  in  execution  their  threats  of  extermina- 
tion and  expulsion,  and  fully  wreaked  their  ven- 


Favorable  Press  Comment.  37 

geance  on  a  body  of  industrious  and  enterpris- 
ing men,  who  had  never  wronged  nor  wished  to 
wrong  them,  but  on  the  contrary  had  ever  com- 
ported themselves  as  good  and  honest  citizens, 
living  under  the  same  laws,  and  having  the 
same  right  with  themselves  to  the  sacred  im- 
munities of  life,  liberty  and  property. 


III. 


SETTLING  in  and  about  the  obscure  village 
of  Commerce,  the  "Mormon"  refugees 
soon  demonstrated  anew  the  marvelous  recuper- 
ative power  with  which  they  were  endowed,  and 
a  city  seemed  to  spring  from  the  earth.  Nau- 
voo — the  City  Beautiful — was  the  name  given 
to  this  new  abiding  place.  It  was  situated  but 
a  few  miles  from  Quincy,  in  a  bend  of  the  ma- 
jestic river,  giving  the  town  three  water  fronts. 
It  seemed  to  nestle  there  as  if  the  Father  of 
Waters  was  encircling  it  with  his  mighty  arm. 
Soon  a  glorious  temple  crowned  the  hill  up 
which  the  city  had  run  in  its  rapid  growth. 
Their  settlements  extended  into  Iowa,  then  a 
territory.  The  governors  of  both  Iowa  and 
Ohio  testified  to  the  worthiness  of  the  Latter- 
day  Saints  as  citizens,  and  pledged  them  the 
protection  of  the  commonwealth.  The  city  of 
Nauvoo  was  chartered  by  the  state  of  Illinois, 
and  the  rights  of  local  self-government  were 
assured  to  its  citizens. 

A  military  organization,  the  "Nauvoo  Le- 


Difficulties  in  Illinois.  39 

gion,"  was  authorized,  and  the  establishment  of 
a  university  was  provided  for;  both  these  or- 
ganizations were  successfully  effected.  It  was 
here  that  a  memorial  was  prepared  and  sent  to 
the  national  government,  reciting  the  outrages 
of  Missouri,  and  asking  reparation.  Joseph 
Smith  himself,  the  head  of  the  delegation,  had 
a  personal  interview  with  President  Van  Buren, 
in  which  the  grievances  of  the  Latter-day  Saints 
were  presented.  Van  Buren  replied  in  words 
that  will  not  be  forgotten,  "Your  cause  is  just, 
but  I  can  do  nothing  for  you." 

The  peaceful  conditions  at  first  characteristic 
of  their  Illinois  settlement  were  not  to  continue. 
The  element  of  political  influence  asserted  itself 
and  the  "Mormons"  bade  fair  to  soon  hold  the 
balance  of  power  in  local  affairs.  The  charac- 
teristic unity,  so  marked  in  connection  with 
every  phase  of  the  people's  existence,  promised 
loo  much;  immigration  into  Hancock  county 
was  continuous,  and  the  growing  power  of  the 
Latter-day  Saints  was  viewed  with  apprehen- 
sion. With  this  as  the  true  motive,  many  pre- 
texts for  annoyance  were  found;  and  arrests, 
trials,  and  acquittals  were  common  experiences 
of  the  Church  officers. 


40          The  Story  of  ''Mormonism." 

A  charge,  which  promised  to  prove  as  devoid 
of  foundation  as  had  the  excuses  for  the  fifty 
arrests  preceding  it,  led  Joseph  Smith,  president 
of  the  Church,  and  Hyrum  Smith,  the  patriarch, 
to  again  surrender  themselves  to  the  officers  of 
the  law.  They  were  taken  to  Carthage,  Joseph 
having  declared  to  friends  his  belief  that  he  was 
going  to  the  slaughter.  Governor  Ford  gave 
to  the  prisoners  his  personal  guarantee  for  their 
safety;  but  mob  violence  was  supreme,  more 
mighty  than  the  power  of  the  state  militia 
placed  there  to  guard  the  prison ;  and  these  men 
were  shot  to  death,  even  while  under  the  gov- 
ernor's plighted  pledge  of  protection.  Hyrum 
fell  first;  and  Joseph,  appearing  at  one  of  the 
windows  in  the  second  story,  received  the  leaden 
missiles  of  the  besieging  mob,  which  was  led 
by  a  recreant  though  professed  minister  of  the 
gospel.  But  the  brutish  passion  of  the  mob  was 
not  yet  sated ;  propping  the  body  against  a  well- 
curb  in  the  jail-yard,  the  murderers  poured  a 
volley  of  bullets  into  the  corpse,  and  fled.  Thus 
was  the  unholy  vow  of  the  mob  fulfilled,  that  as 
law  could  not  touch  the  "Mormon"  leaders, 
powder  and  ball  should.  John  Taylor,  who  be- 


The  Prophet  Slain.  41 

came  years  afterward  president  of  the  Church, 
was  in  the  jail  at  the  same  time;  he  received 
four  bullets,  and  was  left  supposedly  dead. 

Joseph  Smith  had  been  more  than  the  eccles- 
iastical leader ;  his  presence  and  personality  had 
been  ever  powerful  as  a  stimulus  to  the  hearts 
of  the  people;  none  knew  his  personal  power 
better  than  the  members  of  his  own  flock,  unless 
indeed  it  were  the  wolves  who  were  ever  seek- 
ing to  harry  the  fold.  It  had  been  the  boast  of 
anti-"Mormons"  that  with  Joseph  Smith  re- 
moved, the  Church  would  crumble  to  pieces  of 
itself.  In  the  personality  of  their  leader,  it  was 
thought,  lay  the  secret  of  the  people's  strength ; 
and  like  the  Philistines,  the  enemy  struck  at  the 
supposed  bond  of  power.  Terrible  as  was  the 
blow  of  the  fearful  fatality,  the  Church  soon 
emerged  from  its  despairing  state  of  poignant 
grief,  and  rose  mightier  than  before.  It  is  the 
faith  of  this  people  that  while  the  work  of  God 
on  earth  is  carried  on  by  men,  yet  mortals  are 
but  instruments  in  the  Creator's  hands  for  the 
accomplishment  of  divine  purposes.  The  death 
of  the  president  disorganized  the  First  Presi- 
dency of  the  Church ;  but  the  official  body  next 


42          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

in  authority,  the  Council  of  the  Twelve,  stepped 
to  the  front,  and  the  progress  of  the  Church  was 
unhindered.  The  work  of  the  ministry  was  not 
arrested ;  the  people  paused  but  long  enough  to 
bury  their  dead  and  clear  their  eyes  from  the 
blinding  tears  that  fell. 

Let  us  take  a  retrospective  glance  at  this 
unusual  man.  Though  his  opponents  deny  him 
the  divine  commission  with  which  his  friends 
believe  he  was  charged,  they  all,  friends  and 
foes  alike,  admit  that  he  was  a  great  man. 
Through  the  testimony  of  his  life's  work  and 
the  sanctifying  seal  of  his  martyrdom,  thou- 
sands have  come  to  acknowledge  him  all  that  he 
professed  to  be — a  messenger  from  God  to  the 
people.  He  is  not  without  admirers  among 
men  who  deny  the  truth  of  his  principles  and 
the  faith  of  his  people. 

A  historical  writer  of  the  time,  Josiah  Quin- 
cy,  a  few  weeks  after  the  martyrdom,  wrote : 

It  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  some  fu- 
ture text  book  for  the  use  of  generations  yet  un- 
born, will  contain  a  question  something  like 
this:  "What  historical  American  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  has  exerted  the  most  powerful 
influence  upon  the  destinies  of  his  countrymen  ?" 


Josiah  Quincy's  Tribute.  43 

And  it  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  the  answer 
to  that  interrogatory  may  be  thus  written— 
"Joseph  Smith,  the  Mormon  Prophet."  And 
the  reply,  absurd  as  it  doubtless  seems  to  most 
men  now  living,  may  be  an  obvious  common- 
place to  their  descendants.  History  deals  in 
surprises  and  paradoxes  quite  as  startling  as 
this.  A  man  who  established  a  religion  in  this 
age  of  free  debate,  who  was  and  is  today  ac- 
cepted by  hundreds  of  thousands  as  a  direct 
emissary  from  the  Most  High — such  a  rare  hu- 
man being  is  not  to  be  disposed  of  by  pelting  his 
memory  with  unsavory  epithets.  *  *  *  The 
most  vital  questions  Americans  are  asking  each 
other  today,  have  to  deal  with  this  man  and 
what  he  has  left  us.  *  *  *  Joseph  Smith, 
claiming  to  be  an  inspired  teacher,  faced  ad- 
versity such  as  few  men  have  been  called  to 
meet,  enjoyed  a  brief  season  of  prosperity  such 
as  few  men  have  ever  attained,  and  finally 
*  *  *  went  cheerfully  to  a  martyr's  death. 
When  he  surrendered  his  person  to  Governor 
Ford,  in  order  to  prevent  the  shedding  of  blood, 
the  Prophet  had  a  presentiment  of  what  was 
before  him.  "I  am  going  like  a  lamb  to  the 
slaughter,"  he  is  reported  to  have  said,  "but  I 
am  as  calm  as  a  summer's  morning.  I  have  a 
conscience  void  of  offense,  and  shall  die  inno- 
cent." 

The  "Mormon"  people  regarded  it  as  a  duty 


44          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

to  make  every  proper  effort  to  bring  the  perpe- 
trators of  the  foul  assassination  of  their  leaders 
to  justice;  sixty  names  were  presented  to  the 
local  grand  jury,  and  of  the  persons  so  desig- 
nated, nine  were  indicted.  After  a  farcical 
semblance  of  a  trial,  these  were  acquitted,  and 
thus  was  notice,  sanctioned  by  the  constituted 
authority  of  the  law,  served  upon  all  anti-"Mor- 
mons"  of  Illinois,  that  they  were  safe  in  any 
assault  they  might  choose  to  make  on  the  sub- 
jects of  their  hate.  The  mob  was  composed  of 
apt  pupils  in  the  learning  of  this  lesson.  Per- 
sonal outrages  were  of  every-day  occurrence; 
husbandmen  were  captured  in  their  fields, 
beaten,  tortured,  until  they  barely  had  strength 
left  to  promise  compliance  with  the  demands  of 
their  assailants, — that  they  would  leave  the 
state.  Houses  were  fired  while  the  tenants 
were  wrapped  in  uneasy  slumber  within;  in- 
deed, one  entire  town,  that  of  Morley,  was  by 
such  incendiarism  reduced  to  ashes.  Women 
and  children  were  aroused  in  the  night,  and 
compelled  to  flee  unclad  or  perish  in  their  burn- 
ing dwellings. 

But  what  of  the  internal  work  of  the  Church 
during  these  trying  periods?    As  the  winds  of 


Brigham  Young,  the  Leader.          45 

winter,  the  storms  of  the  year's  deepest  night, 
do  but  harden  and  strengthen  the  mountain 
pine,  whose  roots  strike  the  deeper,  whose 
branches  thicken,  whose  twigs  multiply  by  the 
inclemency  that  would  be  fatal  to  the  exotic 
palm,  raised  by  man  with  hot-house  nursing, 
so  the  new  sect  continued  its  growth,  partly 
in  spite  of,  partly  because  of,  the  storms  to 
which  it  was  subjected.  It  was  no  green-house 
growth,  struggling  for  existence  in  a  foreign 
clime,  but  a-  fit  plant  for  the  soil  of  a  free  land ; 
and  there  existed  in  the  minds  of  unprejudiced 
observers  not  a  doubt  as  to  its  vitality.  The 
Church  soon  found  its  equilibrium  again  after 
the  shock  of  its  cruel  experience.  Brigham 
Young,  who  for  a  decade  had  been  identified 
with  the  cause,  who  had  received  his  full  share 
of  persecution  at  mobocratic  hands,  now  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  presiding  body  in  the  priest- 
hood of  the  Church.  The  effect  of  this  man's 
wonderful  personality,  his  surprising  natural 
ability,  and  to  the  people,  the  proofs  of  his 
divine  acceptance,  were  apparent  from  the  first. 
Migration  from  other  states  and  from  for- 
eign shores  continued  to  swell  the  "Mormon" 
band,  and  this  but  angered  the  oppressors  the 


46          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

more.  The  members  of  the  Church,  recogniz- 
ing the  inevitable  long  before  predicted  by  their 
murdered  prophet,  that  the  march  of  the  Church 
would  be  westward,  redoubled  their  efforts  to 
complete  the  grand  temple  upon  which  they  had 
not  ceased  to  work  through  all  the  storms  of 
persecution.  This  structure,  solemnly  dedi- 
cated to  their  God,  they  entered,  and  there  re- 
ceived their  anointings  and  their  blessings ;  then 
they  abandoned  it  to  the  desecration  and  self- 
condemning  outrages  of  their  foes.  For  the 
mob's  decree  had  gone  forth,  that  the  "Mor- 
mons" must  leave  Illinois.  After  a  few  san- 
guinary encounters,  the  leaders  of  the  people 
acceded  to  the  demands  of  their  assailants,  and 
agreed  to  leave  early  in  the  following  spring; 
but  the  departure  was  not  speedy  enough  to 
suit,  and  the  lawless  persecution  was  waged  the 
more  ruthlessly. 

Soon  the  soil  of  Illinois  was  free  from  "Mor- 
mon" tread ;  Nauvoo  was  deserted,  her  20,000 
inhabitants  expatriated.  Colonel  Thomas  L. 
Kane,  a  conspicuous  figure  at  this  stage  of  our 
country's  history,  was  traveling  eastward  at  the 
time,  and  reached  Nauvoo  shortly  after  its  evac- 
uation. In  a  lecture  before  the  Historical  So- 


Colonel  Kane's  Experience.  47 

ciety  of  Pennsylvania,  he  related  his  experience 
in  this  sometime  abode  of  the  Saints.  I  para- 
phrase a  portion  of  his  eloquent  address. 

Sighting  the  city  from  the  western  shore  of 
the  mighty  Mississippi,  as  it  nestled  in  the  riv- 
er's encircling  embrace,  he  crossed  to  its  prin- 
cipal wharf,  and,  there  to  his  surprise,  found  no 
soul  to  meet  him.  The  stillness  that  everywhere 
prevailed  was  painful,  broken  only  by  an  oc- 
casional faint  echo  of  boisterous  shout  or  ribald 
song  from  a  distance.  The  town  was  in  a 
dream,  and  the  warrior  trod  lightly  lest  he 
wake  it  in  affright,  for  he  plainly  saw  that  it 
had  not  slumbered  long.  No  grass  grew  in  the 
pavement  joints;  recent  footprints  were  still 
distinct  in  the  dusty  thoroughfares.  The  visitor 
made  his  way  unmolested  into  work-shops  and 
smithies ;  tools  lay  as  last  used ;  on  the  carpen- 
ter's bench  was  the  unfinished  frame,  on  the 
floor  were  the  shavings  fresh  and  odorous ;  the 
wood  was  piled  in  readiness  before  the  baker's 
oven ;  the  blacksmith's  forge  was  cold,  but  the 
shop  looked  as  though  the  occupant  had  just 
gone  off  for  a  holiday.  The  gallant  soldier 
entered  gardens  unchallenged  by  owner,  human 
guard,  or  watchful  dog;  he  might  have  sup- 


48          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

posed  the  people  hidden  or  dead  in  their  houses ; 
but  the  doors  were  not  fastened,  and  he  entered 
to  explore,  there  were  fresh  ashes  on  the 
hearth;  no  great  accumulation  of  the  dust  of 
time  was  on  floors  or  furniture ;  the  awful  quiet 
compelled  him  to  tread  a-tip-toe  as  if  thread- 
ing the  aisles  of  an  unoccupied  cathedral.  He 
hastened  to  the  graveyard,  though  surely  the 
city  had  not  been  depopulated  by  pestilence. 
No;  there  were  a  few  stones  newly  set,  some 
sods  freshly  turned  in  this  sacred  acre  of  God, 
but  where  can  you  find  a  cemetery  of  a  living 
town  with  no  such  evidence  of  recent  inter- 
ment? There  were  fields  of  heavy  grain,  the 
bounteous  harvest  rotting  on  the  ground ;  there 
were  orchards  dropping  their  rich  and  rosy 
fruit  to  spoil  beneath;  not  a  hand  to  gather 
or  save. 

But  in  a  suburban  corner,  he  came  across 
the  smoldering  embers  of  a  barbecue  fire,  with 
fragments  of  flesh  and  other  remnants  of  a 
feast.  Hereabout  houses  had  been  demolished ; 
and  there  beyond,  around  the  great  temple 
that  had  first  attracted  his  attention  from  the 
Iowa  shore,  armed  men  were  bivouacked.  This 
worthy  representative  of  our  country's  service 


Mobocratic  Outrages.  49 

was  challenged  by  the  drunken  crowd,  and 
made  to  give  an  account  of  himself,  and  to  an- 
swer for  having  crossed  the  river  without  a 
permit  from  the  head  of  the  band.  Finding 
that  he  was  a  stranger,  they  related  to  him  in 
fiendish  glee  their  recent  exploits  of  pillage, 
rapine,  and  murder.  They  conducted  him 
through  the  temple ;  everywhere  were  marks  of 
their  brutish  acts;  its  altars  of  prayer  were 
broken;  the  baptismal  font  had  been  so  "dili- 
gently desecrated  as  to  render  the  apartment  in 
which  it  was  contained  too  noisome  to  abide 
in."  There  in  the  steeple  close  by  the  "scar  of 
divine  wrath"  left  by  a  recent  thunderbolt,  were 
broken  covers  of  liquor  and  drinking  vessels. 

Sickened  with  the  sight,  disgusted  with  this 
spectacle  of  outrage,  the  colonel  recrossed  the 
river  at  nightfall,  beating  upward,  for  the  wind 
had  freshened.  Attracted  by  a  faint  light  near 
the  bank,  he  approached  the  spot,  there  to  find 
a  few  haggard  faces  surrounding  one  who 
seemed  to  be  in  the  last  stages  of  fever.  The 
sufferer  was  partially  protected  by  something 
like  a  tent  made  from  a  couple  of  bed  sheets; 
and  amid  such  environment,  the  spirit  was 
pluming  itself  for  flight.  Making  his  way 


50          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

through  this  camp  of  misery,  he  heard  the  sob- 
bings of  children  hungry  and  sick;  there  were 
men  and  women  dying  from  wounds  or  dis- 
ease, without  a  semblance  of  shelter  or  other 
physical  comfort;  wives  in  the  pangs  of  ma- 
ternity, ushering  into  the  world  innocent  babes 
doomed  to  be  motherless  from  their  birth.  And 
at  intervals,  to  the  ears  of  those  outcasts,  the 
sick  and  the  dying,  the  wind  brought  the  soul- 
piercing  sounds  of  the  reveling  mob  in  the  dis- 
tant city,  the  scrap  of  vulgar  song,  the  shock- 
ing oath,  shrieked  from  the  temple  tower  in  the 
madness  of  drunken  orgies. 

This,  however,  was  but  the  rear  remnant  of 
the  expatriated  Christian  band.  The  van  was 
already  far  on  its  way  toward  the  inviting  wil- 
derness of  the  all  but  unknown  west.  But  the 
wanderers  were  not  wholly  without  friends; 
certain  Indian  tribes,  the  Omahas  and  the  Pot  • 
awatomis,  welcomed  them  to  their  lands,  in- 
viting them  to  camp  within  their  territory  dur- 
ing the  coming  winter.  "Welcome,"  said  these 
children  of  the  forest,  "we  too  have  been  driven 
from  our  pleasant  homes  east  of  the  great  river, 
to  these  damp  and  unhealthful  bottoms;  you 
now,  white  men,  have  been  driven  forth  to  the 


The  Camp  of  Israel.  51 

prairies;  we  are  fellow-sufferers.       Welcome, 
brothers." 

In  return  much  assistance  was  rendered  by 
the  white  refugees  to  their,  shall  I  say  savage 
friends?  If  it  was  civilization  the  wanderers 
had  left,  then  indeed  might  the  red  men  of  the 
forest  have  felt  proud  of  their  distinction.  But 
the  Indian  agent,  a  Christian  gentleman,  or- 
dered the  "Mormons"  to  move  on  and  leave 
the  reservation  which  a  kind  government  had 
provided  for  its  red  children.  An  order  from 
President  Polk,  who  had  been  appealed  to  by 
Colonel  Kane,  gave  the  people  permission  to 
remain  for  a  short  season.  The  government 
of  Iowa  had  courteously  assured  them  protec- 
tion while  passing  through  that  territory.  As 
soon  as  the  people  were  well  under  way,  a 
thorough  organization  was  effected.  Remem- 
bering the  toilsome  desert  march  from  Egypt 
to  Canaan,  the  people  assumed  the  name, 
"Camp  of  Israel."  The  camp  consisted  of  two 
main  divisions,  and  each  was  sub-divided  into 
companies  of  hundreds,  fifties,  and  tens,  with 
captains  to  direct.  An  officer  with  one  hundred 
volunteers  went  ahead  of  the  main  body  to  se- 
lect a  route  and  prepare  a  road.  At  this  time, 


52          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

there  were  over  one  thousand  wagons  of  the 
"Mormons"  rolling  westward,  and  the  line  of 
march  soon  reached  from  the  Mississippi  to 
Council  Bluffs.  There  were  in  the  company 
not  half  enough  draft  animals  for  the  arduous 
march,  and  but  an  insufficient  number  of  able- 
bodied  men  to  tend  the  camps.  The  women 
had  to  assist  in  driving  teams  and  stock,  and 
in  other  labors  of  the  journey.  Yet  with  their 
characteristic  cheerfulness  the  people  made  the 
best,  and  that  proved  to  be  a  great  deal,  out 
of  their  lot.  When  the  camp  halted,  a  city 
seemed  to  spring  as  if  by  magic  from  the  prairie 
soil.  Concerts  and  social  gatherings  were 
usual  features  of  the  evening  rests. 

But  another  great  event  disturbed  the  equa- 
nimity of  the  camp.  War  had  broken  out 
between  Mexico  and  the  United  States.  Gen- 
eral Taylor's  victories  in  the  early  stages  of 
the  strife  had  been  all  but  decisive,  but  the 
Republic  was  on  march  to  the  western  ocean 
and  the  provinces  of  New  Mexico  and  Cali- 
fornia were  in  her  path.  These  two  provinces 
comprised  in  addition  to  the  territory  now 
designated  by  those  names,  Utah,  Nevada,  por- 
tions of  Wyoming  and  Colorado,  as  also  Ari- 


The  Mormon  Battalion.  53 

zona;  while  Oregon,  then  claimed  by  Great 
Britain,  included  Washington,  Idaho,  and  por- 
tions of  Montana  and  Wyoming.  It  was  the 
plan  of  the  national  administration  to  occupy 
these  provinces  at  the  earliest  moment  possible ; 
and  a  call  was  made  upon  the  "Mormon"  refu- 
gees to  contribute  to  the  general  force  by  fur- 
nishing a  battalion  of  five  hundred  men  to  take 
part  in  the  war  with  Mexico.  The  surprise 
which  the  message  of  the  government  officer 
produced  in  the  camp  amounted  almost  to  dis- 
may. Five  hundred  men  fit  to  bear  arms  to 
be  drafted  from  that  camp!  What  would  be- 
come of  the  rest?  Already  women  and  boys 
had  been  pressed  into  service  to  do  the  work  of 
men;  already  the  sick  and  the  halt  had  been 
neglected;  and  many  graves  marked  the  path 
they  had  traversed,  whose  tenants  had  passed 
to  their  last  sleep  through  lack  of  care. 

But  how  long  did  they  hesitate?  Scarcely 
an  hour;  it  was  the  call  of  their  country.  True, 
they  were  even  then  leaving  the  national  soil, 
but  not  of  their  own  will.  To  them  their 
country  was  and  is  the  promised  land,  the 
Lord's  chosen  place,  the  land  of  Zion.  "You 
shall  have  your  battalion,"  said  Brigham  Young 


54          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

to  Captain  Allen,  the  muster  officer,  "and  if 
there  are  not  young  men  enough,  we  will  take 
the  old  men,  and  if  they  are  not  enough,  we 
will  take  the  women."  Within  a  week  from 
the  time  President  Folk's  message  was  re- 
ceived, the  entire  force,  in  all  five  hundred  and 
forty-nine  souls,  was  on  the  march  to  Fort 
Leavenworth.  Their  path  from  the  Missouri 
to  the  Pacific  led  them  over  two  thousand 
miles,  much  of  this  distance  being  measured 
through  deserts,  which  prior  to  that  time  had 
not  been  trodden  by  civilized  foot. 

Colonel  Cooke,  the  commander  of  the  "Mor- 
mon" Battalion,  declared,  "History  may  be 
searched  in  vain  for  an  equal  march  of  in- 
'fantry."  Many  were  disabled  through  the  se- 
verity of  the  march,  and  numerous  cases  of 
sickness  and  death  \vere  chronicled.  General 
Kearney  and  his  successor,  Governor  R.  B. 
Mason,  as  military  commandants  of  California, 
spoke  in  high  praise  of  this  organization,  and  in 
their  official  reports  declared  that  they  had  made 
efforts  to  prolong  the  battalion's  term  of  ser- 
vice; but  most  of  the  men  chose  to  rejoin  their 
families  as  soon  as  they  could  secure  their  hon- 
orable discharge. 


Providential  Help.  55 

But  to  return  to  the  Camp  of  Israel :  A  pio- 
neer party,  consisting  of  a  hundred  and  forty 
and  four,  preceded  the  main  body;  and  the 
line  of  the  migrating  hosts  soon  stretched  from 
the  Missouri  to  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake.  Wagons  there  were,  as  also  some  horses 
and  men,  but  all  too  few  for  the  journey;  and 
a  great  part  of  the  company  walked  the  full 
thousand  miles  across  the  great  plains  and  the 
forbidding  deserts  of  the  west.  In  the  Black 
Hills  region,  the  pioneers  were  delayed  a  week 
at  the  Platte,  a  stream,  which,  though  usually 
fordable  at  this  point  was  now  so  swollen  as  to 
make  fording  impossible.  Here,  too,  their  pro- 
visions were  well  nigh  exhausted.  Game  had 
not  been  plentiful,  and  the  "Mormon"  pioneers 
were  threatened  with  the  direst  privations.  In 
their  slow  march  they  had  been  passed  by  a 
number  of  well-equipped  parties,  some  of  them 
from  Missouri  bound  for  the  Pacific;  but  most 
of  these  were  overtaken  on  the  easterly  side  of 
the  river.  Amongst  the  effects  of  the  "Mor- 
mon" party  was  a  leathern  boat,  which  on  water 
served  the  legitimate  purpose  of  its  maker  and 
on  land  was  made  to  do  service  as  a  wagon 
box.  This,  together  with  rafts  specially  con- 


56          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

structed,  was  now  put  to  good  use  in  ferrying 
across  the  river  not  alone  themselves  and  their 
little  property,  but  the  other  companies  and 
their  loads.  For  this  service  they  were  well 
paid  in  camp  provisions. 

Thus,  the  expatriated  pioneers  found  them- 
selves relieved  from  want  with  their  meal 
sacks  replenished  in  the  heart  of  the  wilder- 
ness. Many  may  call  it  superstition,  but  some 
will  regard  it  as  did  the  thankful  travelers — 
an  interposition  of  Providence,  and  an  answer 
to  their  prayers — an  event  to  be  compared, 
they  said,  to  the  feeding  of  Israel  with  manna 
in  the  wilderness  of  old. 

After  over  three  months'  journeying,  the 
pioneer  company  reached  the  valley  of  the 
Great  Salt  Lake;  and  at  the  first  sight  of  it, 
Brigham  Young  declared  it  to  be  the  halting 
place — the  gathering  center  for  the  Saints.  But 
what  was  there  inviting  in  this  wilderness 
spread  out  like  a  scroll — barren  of  inviting 
message,  and  empty  but  for  the  picture  it  pre- 
sented of  wondrous  scenic  grandeur?  Look- 
ing from  the  Wasatch  barrier,  the  colonists 
gazed  upon  a  scene  of  entrancing  though  for- 
bidding beauty.  A  barren,  arid  plain,  rimmed 


View  of  the  Promised  Land.          57 

by  mountains  like  a  literal  basin,  still  occupied 
in  its  lowest  parts  by  the  dregs  of  what  had 
once  filled  it  to  the  brim;  no  green  meadows, 
not  a  tree  worthy  the  name,  scarce  a  patch  of 
green-sward  to  entice  the  adventurous  wan- 
derers into  the  valley.  The  slopes  were  covered 
with  sage-brush,  relieved  by  patches  of  chap- 
paral  oak  and  squaw-bush;  the  wild  sunflower 
lent  its  golden  hue  to  intensify  the  sharp  con- 
trasts. Off  to  the  westward  lay  the  lake,  mak- 
ing an  impressive,  uninviting  picture  in  its 
severe,  unliving  beauty;  from  its  blue  wastes 
somber  peaks  rose  as  precipitous  islands,  and 
about  the  shores  of  this  dead  sea  were  saline 
flats  that  told  of  the  scorching  heat  and  thirsty 
atmosphere  of  this  parched  region.  A  turbid 
river  ran  from  south  to  north  athwart  the  val- 
ley, "dividing  it  in  twain,"  as  a  historian  of 
the  day  has  written,  "as  if  the  vast  bowl  in  the 
intense  heat  of  the  Master  Potter's  fires,  in 
process  of  formation  had  cracked  asunder." 
Small  streams  of  water  started  in  rippling  haste 
from  the  snow-caps  of  the  mountains  toward 
the  lake,  but  most  of  them  were  devoured  by 
the  thirsty  sands  of  the  valley  before  their  jour- 
ney was  half  completed. 


58          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

Such  was  the  scene  of  desolation  that  greet- 
ed the  pioneer  band.  A  more  forsaken  spot 
"they  had  not  passed  in  all  their  wanderings. 
And  is  this  the  promised  land?  This  is  the 
very  place  of  which  Bridger  spake  \vhen  he 
proffered  a  thousand  dollars  in  gold  for  the 
first  bushel  of  grain  that  could  be  raised  here, 
\Yith  such  a  Canaan  spread  out  before  them, 
was  it  not  wholly  pardonable  if  some  did  sigh 
with  longing  for  the  leeks  and  flesh-pots  of  the 
Egypt  they  had  left,  or  wished  to  pass  by  this 
land  and  seek  a  fairer  home  ?  Two  of  the  three 
women  who  belonged  to  the  party  were  utterly 
disappointed.  "Weak,  worn,  and  weary  as  I 
am,"  said  one  of  these  heroines,  "I  would  rather 
push  on  another  thousand  miles  than  stay  here." 

But  the  voice  of  their  leader  was  heard.  "The 
very  place,"  said  Brigham  Young,  and  in  his 
prophetic  mind  there  rose  a  vision  of  what  was 
to  come.  Not  for  a  moment  did  he  doubt  the 
future.  He  saw  a  multitude  of  towns  and 
cities,  hamlets  and  villas  filling  this  and  neigh- 
boring valleys,  with  the  fairest  .of  all,  a  city 
whose  beauty  of  situation,  whose  wealth  of  re- 
source should  become  known  throughout  the 
world,  rising  from  the  most  arid  site  of  the 


Irrigation  in  the  West.  59 

burning  desert  before  him,  hard  by  the  barren 
salt  shores  of  the  watery  waste.  There  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  parched  wilderness  should 
stand  the  House  of  the  Lord,  with  other  temples 
in  valleys  beyond  the  horizon  of  his  gaze. 

Within  a  few  hours  after  the  arrival  of  the 
vanguard  upon  the  banks  of  what  is  now  known 
as  City  Creek — the  mountain  stream  which  to- 
day furnishes  Salt  Lake  City  part  of  her  water 
supply — plows  were  put  to  work ;  but  the  hard- 
baked  soil,  never  before  disturbed  by  the  efforts 
of  man  to  till,  refused  to  yield  to  the  share.  A 
dam  was  thrown  across  the  stream  and  the  soft- 
ening liquid  was  spread  upon  the  flat  that  had 
been  chosen  for  the  first  fields.  The  planting 
season  had  already  well  nigh  passed,  and  not 
a  day  could  be  lost.  Potatoes  and  other  seed 
were  put  in,  and  the  land  was  again  flooded. 
Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  irrigation  sys 
tern,  which  soon  became  co-extensive  with  the 
area  occupied  by  the  "Mormon"  settlers,  a 
system  which  under  the  blessing  of  Providence, 
has  proved  to  be  the  veritable  magic  touch  by 
which  the  desert  has  been  made  a  field  of  rich- 
ness and  a  garden  of  beauty;  a  system  which 
now  after  many  decades  of  successful  trial  is 


60          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

held  up  by  the  nation's  wise  and  great  ones  to 
be  the  one  practicable  method  of  reclaiming  our 
country's  vast  domains  of  arid  lands.  It  was 
on  the  24th  of  July,  1847,  that  the  main  part 
of  the  pioneer  band  entered  the  valley  of  the 
Great  Salt  Lake,  and  that  day  of  the  year  is 
observed  as  a  legal  holiday  in  Utah.  From 
that  time  to  the  present,  the  stream  of  immigra- 
tion to  these  valleys  has  never  ceased. 


IV. 


THE  dangers  of  the  first  company's  migra- 
tion were  surpassed  by  those  of  parties 
who  subsequently  braved  the  terrors  of  the 
plains.  In  their  enthusiasm  to  reach  the  gath- 
ering place  of  their  people,  many  of  the  Lat- 
ter-day Saints  set  out  from  Iowa,  where  rail- 
way facilities  had  their  termination,  with  handr 
carts  only  as  a  means  of  conveyance.  To- 
day there  are  living  in  the  smiling  vales  of 
Utah,  men  and  women  who  then  as  boys  and 
girls  trudged  wearily  across  the  prairies,  drag- 
ging the  lumbering  carts  that  contained  their 
entire  provision  against  starvation  and  freez- 
ing. Such  handcart  companies  were  organ- 
ized with  care;  a  limited  amount  of  freight  was 
allowed  to  each  division;  milch  cattle  and  a 
very  few  draft-animals,  with  wagons  for  con- 
veying the  heavier  baggage  and  to  carry  the 
sick,  were  assigned.  The  tale  of  those  dreary 
marches  has  never  yet  been  told;  the  song 
of  the  heroism  and  sacrifice  displayed  by  these 
pilgrims  for  conscience  sake  is  awaiting  a  sing- 


62          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

er  worthy  the  theme.  Wading  the  streams  with 
carts  in  tow,  or  in  cases  of  unfordable  streams, 
stopping  to  construct  rafts ;  at  times  living  on 
reduced  rations  of  but  a  few  ounces  of  meal 
per  day;  lying  down  at  night  with  a  prayer 
in  the  heart  that  they  wake  no  more  on  earth, 
a  prayer  which  had  its  fulfilment  in  hundreds 
of  cases ;  the  dying  heaving  their  parting  sighs 
in  the  arms  of  loved  ones  who  were  soon  to 
follow,  they  journeyed  on. 

The  inevitable  catastrophes  and  accidents 
of  travel  robbed  them  of  their  substance.  Hos- 
tile savages  stampeded  their  cattle,  or  openly 
attacked  and  plundered  the  trains.  But  on  they 
went,  never  swerving  from  the  course.  These 
later  companies  needed  no  chart  nor  compass 
to  guide  them  over  the  desert;  the  road  was 
plain  from  the  marks  of  former  camps,  and 
yet  more  so  from  the  graves  of  friends  and 
loved  ones  who  had  started  before  on  the  road 
to  the  earthly  Zion  and  found  that  it  led  them 
to  the  martyr's  entrance  to  heaven,  graves  that 
were  marked  perhaps  but  by  a  rude  inscrip- 
tion cut  on  a  pole  or  a  board.  And  even  these 
narrow  lodgings  had  not  been  left  inviolate ;  the 
wolves  of  the  plains  had  too  often  succeeded  in 


Sufferings  of  the  Immigrants.         63 

unearthing  and  rending  the  bodies.  Every 
company  thus  made  the  course  the  plainer ;  each 
of  them  added  to  the  silent  population  of  the 
desert;  sometimes  half  a  score  were  interred 
at  one  camp,  and  of  one  company  over  a  fourth 
were  thus  left  beside  the  prairie  road.  Now 
we  traverse  the  self-same  track  in  a  day  and  a 
night,  reclining  on  luxurious  cushions  of  ease, 
covering  fifty  miles  while  dining  in  luxury ;  and 
we  avert  the  ennui  of  the  journey  by  berating 
the  railway  company  for  lack  of  speed. 

Relief  trains  were  continually  on  the  way 
between  the  valley  of  the  Salt  Lake  and  the 
Missouri ;  and  the  remnants  of  many  a  company 
were  saved  from  what  appeared  to  be  certain 
destruction  by  the  opportune  arrival  of  these 
rescuing  parties.  Such  relief  came  from  those 
who  were  themselves  destitute  and  almost  starv- 
ing. Brigham  Young  with  a  few  of  the  chief 
officials  of  the  Church,  and  aids,  returned  east- 
ward on  such  an  errand  of  rescue  within  a  few 
weeks  after  first  reaching  the  valley.  The  re- 
gion to  which  the  early  settlers  came  was  in 
no  wise  a  typical  land  of  promise;  it  did  not 
flow  spontaneously  with  milk  and  honey. 

Drought  and  unseasonable  frosts  made  the 


64          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

first  year's  farming  experiments  but  doubtful 
successes,  and  in  the  succeeding  spring  the  land 
was  visited  by  the  devastating  plague  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  crickets.  They  swarmed  down 
in  innumerable  hordes  upon  the  fields,  destroy- 
ing the  growing  crops  as  they  advanced,  de- 
vouring all  before  them,  leaving  the  land  a 
desert  in  their  track.  The  people  scarcely  knew 
how  to  withstand  the  assault  of  this  new  foe; 
they  drove  the  marauders  into  trenches  there 
to  be  drowned  or  burned;  men,  women  and 
every  child  that  could  swing  a  stick,  were  called 
to  the  ranks  in  this  insect  war;  and  with  all 
their  fighting,  the  people  forgot  not  to  pray  for 
deliverance,  and  they  fasted,  too,  for  the  best 
of  reasons. 

And  as  they  watched,  and  prayed,  and 
worked,  they  saw  approaching  from  the  north 
and  west  a  veritable  host  of  winged  creatures 
of  more  formidable  proportions  still ;  and  these 
bore  down  upon  the  fields  as  though  coming 
to  complete  the  devastation.  But  see !  these  are 
of  the  color  that  betokens  peace;  they  are  the 
gulls,  white  and  beautiful,  advancing  upon  the 
hosts  of  the  black  destroyers.  Falling  upon  the 
people's  foes,  they  devoured  them  by  the  thou- 


The  Crickets  and  the  Gulls.          65 

sand,  and  when  filled  to  repletion,  disgorged 
and  feasted  again.  And  they  did  not  stop  till 
the  crickets  were  destroyed.  Again  the  skeptic 
will  say  this  was  but  chance;  but  the  people 
accepted  that  chance  as  a  providential  ruling  in 
their  behalf,  and  reverently  did  they  give 
thanks. 

To-day  the  wanton  killing  of  a  gull  in  Utah 
is  an  offense  in  law;  but  stronger  than  legal 
proscription,  more  powerful  than  fear  of  judi- 
cial penalties,  is  the  popular  sentiment  in  fa- 
vor of  :these  white-winged  deliverers.  Every 
year  come  these  graceful  creatures  to  spend  the 
springtime  in  the  fields  and  upon  the  lakes  of 
Utah ;  and  right  well  do  they  feel  their  welcome, 
for  they  are  habitually  so  tame  and  fearless  that 
they  may  almost  be  touched  by  the  hand  before 
they  take  flight. 

By  the  autumn  of  1848,  five  thousand  people 
had  already  reached  the  valley,  and  the  food 
problem  was  a  most  difficult  one.  The  winter 
was  severe;  and  famine,  stark  and  inexorable, 
threw  its  dread  shadow  over  the  people.  There 
seemed  to  be  an  entry  in  the  book  of  fate  that 
every  possible  test  of  human  endurance  and  in- 
tegrity should  be  applied  to  this  pilgrim  band. 


66          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

Without  distinction  as  to  former  station,  they 
went  out  and  dug  the  roots  of  weeds,  gathered 
the  tenderest  of  the  coarse  grass,  thistles,  and 
wild  berries,  and  thus  did  they  subsist;  upon 
such  did  they  feast  with  thanksgiving,  until  a 
less  scanty  harvest  relieved  their  wants. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  gold  fever  was 
at  its  height,  a  consequence  of  the  discovery 
of  the  precious  metal  in  California,  in  which 
discovery,  indeed,  certain  members  of  the  dis- 
banded "Mormon"  Battalion,  working  their 
way  eastward,  were  most  prominent.  Some  of 
the  "Mormon"  settlers,  becoming  infected  with 
the  malady,  hastened  westward,  but  the  counsel 
of  the  Church  authorities  prevailed  to  keep  all 
but  a  few  at  home.  These  people  had  not  left 
the  country  of  their  birth  or  adoption  to  seek 
gold;  nor  bright  jewels  of  the  mine;  nor  the 
wealth  of  seas;  nor  the  spoils  of  war;  they 
sought  and  believed  they  had  found,  a  faith's 
pure  shrine.  But  the  gold-seekers  hastening 
westward,  and  the  successful  miners  returning 
eastward,  halted  at  the  "Mormon"  settlements 
and  there  replenished  their  supplies,  leaving 
their  gold  to  enrich  the  people  of  the  desert. 

But  of  what  use  is  gold  in  the  wilderness! 


Establishment  of  Schools.  67 

In  the  old  legend  a  famishing  Arab,  finding  a 
well  filled  bag  upon  the  sand  was  thrilled  with 
joy  at  the  thought  of  dates — his  bread;  and 
then  was  cast  into  the  depths  of  despair  when  he 
realized  that  he  had  found  nothing  but  a  bag 
of  costly  pearls.  The  settlers  by  the  lake  needed 
horses  and  wagons,  tools,  implements  of  hus- 
bandry and  building;  and  gold  was  valuable 
only  as  it  represented  a  means  of  obtaining 
these.  Gold  became  so  plentiful  and  was  withal 
so  worthless  in  the  desert  colony  that  men  re- 
fused to  take  it  for  their  labor.  The  yellow 
metal  was  collected  in  buckets  and  exported 
to  the  States  in  exchange  for  the  goods  so  much 
desired.  Merchandise  brought  in  by  caravans 
of  "prairie  schooners,"  was  sold  as  fast  as  it 
could  be  put  out ;  and  strict  rules  were  enforced 
allowing  but  a  proportionate  amount  to  each 
purchaser. 

Within  a  few  months  after  the  first  settle- 
ment of  Utah,  public  schools  were  established ; 
and  one  of  the  early  acts  of  the  provisional  gov- 
ernment was  to  grant  a  charter  to  the  Deseret 
University,  now  known  as  the  University  of 
Utah. 

Up  to  1849,  Utah  had  no  political  history. 


68          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

Settling  in  a  Mexican  province,  the  contest  to 
determine  its  future  ownership  by  the  United 
States  then  in  progress,  the  people  in  com- 
mon with  most  pioneer  communities  established 
their  own  form  of  government.  But  in  Febru- 
ary, 1848,  the  treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo 
gave  California  to  the  United  States;  months 
passed,  however,  before  the  news  of  the  change 
reached  the  west.  Early  in  1849,  a  call  had 
been  issued  to  "all  the  citizens  of  that  portion 
of  Upper  California  lying  to  the  east  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada  mountains"  to  meet  in  conven- 
tion at  Great  Salt  Lake  City ;  and  there  a  peti- 
tion was  prepared  asking  of  Congress  the  rights 
of  self-government ;  and  pending  action,  a  tem- 
porary regime  was  established,  under  the  name 
of  the  Provisional  Government  of  the  State 
of  Deseret. 

"Utah"  was  not  the  choice  of  the  people  as 
the  name  of  their  state;  that  word  served  but 
to  recall  the  degraded  tribes  who  had  contested 
the  settlement  of  the  valleys.  Deseret,  a  Book 
of  Mormon  name  for  the  honey  bee,  was  more 
appropriate.  The  petition  of  the  people  was 
denied  in  part,  and,  in  1850  was  established  the 
territorial  form  of  government  in  Utah.  Con- 


Federal  Appointees  to  Office.          69 

earning  the  period  of  the  provisional  govern- 
ment, such  men  as  Gunnison,  Stansbury,  and 
other  federal  officials  on  duty  in  the  west,  have 
recorded  their  praises  of  the  "Mormon"  colo- 
nists in  official  reports.  But  with  the  un-Ameri- 
can system  of  territorial  government  came  trou- 
bles. 

At  first,  many  of  the  territorial  officials  were 
appointed  from  among  the  settlers  themselves; 
thus,  Brigham  Young  was  the  first  governor; 
but  strangers,  who  knew  not  the  people  nor 
their  ways,  filled  with  prejudice  from  the  false 
reports  they  had  heard,  came  from  the  east  to 
govern  the  colonists  in  the  desert.  Of  the  fed- 
eral appointees  thus  forced  upon  the  people  of 
Utah,  many  made  for  themselves  most  unenvia- 
ble records. 

Some  of  them  were  broken  politicians,  pro- 
fessional office-seekers,  with  no  desire  but  to 
secure  the  greatest  possible  gain  out  of  their  ap- 
pointment. With  effrontery  that  would  shock 
the  modesty  of  a  savage,  the  no n-" Mormon" 
party  adopted  and  flagrantly  displayed  the  car- 
pet-bag as  the  badge  of  their  profession.  But 
not  all  the  officials  sent  to  Utah  from  afar  were 
of  this  type ;  some  of  them  were  honorable  and 


70          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

upright  men,  and  amongst  this  class  the 
"Mormon"  people  reckon  a  number  who,  while 
opposed  to  their  religious  tenets,  were  neverthe- 
less sincere  and  honest  in  the  opposition  they 
evinced. 

In  the  early  part  of  1857,  the  published  libels 
upon  the  people  received  many  serious  ad- 
ditions, the  principal  of  which  was  promulgated 
in  connection  with  the  resignation  of  Judge 
Drummond  of  the  Utah  federal  court.  In  his 
last  letter  to  the  United  States  attorney-gen- 
eral, he  declared  that  his  life  was  no  longer  safe 
in  Utah,  and  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  flee 
from  his  bench;  but  the  most  serious  charge 
of  all  was  that  the  people  had  destroyed  the 
records  of  the  court,  and  that  they  had  resented, 
with  hostile  demonstration,  his  protests ;  in 
short,  that  justice  was  dethroned  in  Utah,  and 
that  the  people  were  in  a  state  of  open  rebellion. 

With  mails  three  months  apart,  news  traveled 
slowly;  but  as  soon  as  word  of  this  infamous 
charge  reached  Salt  Lake  City,  the  clerk  of  the 
court,  Judge  Drummond's  clerk,  sent  a  letter 
by  express  to  the  attorney-general,  denying  un- 
der oath  the  judge's  statements,  and  attesting 
the  declaration  with  official  seal.  The  records, 


An  Army  Sent  to  Utah.  71 

he  declared,  had  been  untouched  except  by  of- 
ficial hands,  and  from  the  time  of  the  court's 
establishment  the  files  had  been  safe  and  were 
then  in  his  personal  keeping.  But,  before  the 
clerk's  communication  had  reached  its  des- 
tination, so  difficult  is  it  for  stately  truth  to 
overtake  flitting  falsehood,  the  mischief  had 
been  done.  Upon  the  most  prejudiced  reports 
utterly  unfounded  in  fact,  with  a  carelessness 
which  even  his  personal  and  political  friends 
found  no  ample  means  of  explaining  away, 
President  Buchanan  allowed  himself  to  be  per- 
suaded that  a  "Mormon"  rebellion  existed,  and 
ordered  an  army  of  over  two  thousand  men  to 
proceed  straightway  to  Utah  to  subdue  the 
rebels.  Successors  to  the  governor  and  other 
territorial  officials  were  appointed,  among 
whom  there  was  not  a  single  resident  of  Utah ; 
and  the  military  force  was  charged  with  the 
duty  of  installing  the  foreign  appointees. 

With  great  dispatch  and  under  cover  of  se- 
crecy, so  that  the  Utah  rebels  might  be  taken 
by  surprise,  the  army  set  out  on  the  march. 
Before  the  troops  reached  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, the  sworn  statement  from  the  clerk  of 
the  supreme  court  of  Utah  denying  the  charges 


72          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

made  by  Judge  Drummond  became  public 
property;  and  about  the  same  time  men  who 
had  come  from  Utah  to  New  York  direct, 
published  over  their  own  signatures  a  declara- 
tion that  all  was  peaceful  in  and  about  the  set- 
tlements of  Utah.  The  public  eye  began  to 
twitch,  and  soon  to  open  wide;  the  conviction 
was  growing  that  someone  had  blundered.  But 
to  retract  would  be  a  plain  confession  of  er- 
ror; blunders  must  be  covered  up. 

Let  us  leave  the  soldiers  on  their  westward 
march,  and  ascertain  how  the  news  of  the  pro- 
jected invasion  reached  the  people  of  Utah, 
and  what  effect  the  tidings  produced.  Certain 
"Mormon"  business  agents,  operating  in  Mis- 
souri, heard  of  the  hostile  movement.  At  first 
they  were  incredulous,  but  when  the  overland 
mail  carrier  from  the  west  delivered  his  pouch 
and  obtained  his  receipt,  but  was  refused  the 
bag  of  Utah  mail  with  the  postmaster's  state- 
ment that  he  had  been  ordered  to  hold  all  mail 
for  Utah,  there  seemed  no  room  for  doubt.  Two 
of  the  Utahns  immediately  hastened  westward. 

On  the  24th  of  July,  1857,  the  people  had 
assembled  in  celebration  of  Pioneer  Day.  Sil- 
ver Lake,  a  mountain  gem  set  amidst  the  snows 


News  of  the  Approaching  Troops.      73 

and  forests  and  towering  peaks  of  the  Cotton- 
woods,  had  been  selected  as  a  fitting  site  for  the 
festivities.  The  Stars  and  Stripes  streamed 
above  the  camp;  bands  played;  choirs  sang; 
there  were  speeches,  and  picnics,  and  prayers. 
Experiences  were  compared  as  to  the  journey- 
ings  on  the  plains;  stories  were  told  of  the 
shifts  to  which  the  people  had  been  put  by 
the  vicissitudes  of  famine;  but  these  dread 
experiences  seemed  to  them  now  like  a  dream 
of  the  night ;  on  this  day  all  were  happy.  Were 
they  not  safe  from  savage  foes  both  red  and 
white?  There  had  .been  peace  for  a  season; 
and  their  desert  homes  were  already  smiling 
in  wealth  of  flower  and  tree;  the  wilderness 
was  blossoming  under  their  feet;  their  con- 
sciences were  void  of  offense  toward  their  fel- 
lows. Yet  at  that  very  hour,  all  unbeknown 
to  themselves,  and  without  the  opportunity  of 
speaking  a  word  in  defense,  these  people  had 
been  convicted  of  insurrection  and  treason. 

It  was  mid-day  and  the  festivities  were  at 
their  height,  when  a  party  of  men  rode  into 
camp  and  sought  an  interview  with  Governor 
Young.  Three  of  them  had  plainly  ridden 
hard  and  far;  they  gave  their  report; — an 


74          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

armed  force  of  thousands  was  at  that  hour  ap- 
proaching the  territory;  the  boasts  of  officers 
and  men  as  to  what  they  would  do  when  they 
found  themselves  in  "Mormon"  towns  were  re- 
ported ;  and  these  stories  called  up,  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  heard,  the  dread  scenes  of  Far 
West  and  Nauvoo.  Had  these  colonists  of  the 
wilderness  not  gone  far  enough  to  satisfy  the 
hatred  of  their  fellow-citizens  in  this  republic 
of  liberty?  They  had  halted  between  the  civ- 
lization  of  the  east  and  that  of  the  west,  they 
had  fled  from  the  country  that  refused  them  a 
home,  and  now  the  nation  would  eject  them 
from  their  desert  lodgings. 

A  council  was  called  and  the  situation  was 
freely  discussed.  Had  they  not  seen,  lo,  these 
many  times,  organized  battalions  and  com- 
panies surpassing  fiendish  mobs  in  villainy?  The 
evidence  warranted  their  conclusion  that  in- 
vasion meant  massacre.  With  tense  calmness 
the  plan  of  action  was  decided  upon.  It  was 
the  general  conviction  that  war  was  inevitable, 
and  it  was  decided  to  resist  to  the  last.  Then, 
if  the  army  forced  its  way  into  the  valleys  of 
Utah  on  hostile  purpose  bent,  it  should  find 
the  land  as  truly  a  desert  as  it  was  when  the 


Preparations  for  Defense.  75 

pioneers  first  took  possession.  To  this  effect 
was  the  decision : — We  have  built  cities  in 
the  east  for  our  foes  to  occupy;  our  very  tem- 
ples have  been  desecrated  and  destroyed  by 
them;  but,  with  the  help  of  Israel's  God,  we 
will  prevent  them  enriching  themselves  with 
the  spoils  of  our  labors  in  these  mountain  re- 
treats. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  room  for  doubt  that 
war  was  about  to  break  upon  them;  and  with 
such  a  prospect,  men  may  be  expected  to  take 
every  advantage  of  their  situation.  Brigham 
Young  was  still  governor  of  Utah,  and  the 
militia  was  subject  to  his  order.  Promptly 
he  proclaimed  the  territory  under  martial  law, 
and  forbade  any  armed  body  to  cross  its  boun- 
daries. Echo  Canyon,  the  one  promising 
route  of  ingress,  was  fortified.  In  those  de- 
files an  army  might  easily  be  stopped  by  a  few ; 
ammunition  stations  were  established;  provi- 
sions were  cached ;  boulders  were  collected  upon 
the  cliffs  beneath  which  the  invaders  must  pass 
if  they  held  to  their  purpose  of  forcing  an 
entrance.  The  people  had  been  roused  to  des- 
peration, and  force  was  to  be  met  with  force. 
In  the  settlements,  combustibles  were  placed  in 


76          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

readiness,  and  if  the  worst  came,  every  "Mor- 
mon" house  would  be  reduced  to  ashes,  every 
tree  would  be  hewn  down. 

With  an  experience  of  suffering  that  would 
have  well  served  a  better  cause,  this  picked  de- 
tachment of  the  United  States  army  made  its 
way  to  the  Green  River  country;  and  there, 
counting  well  the  cost  of  proceeding  farther, 
went  into  camp  at  Fort  Bridger.  Many  of  the 
troops  had  almost  perished  in  the  storms,  for 
it  was  late  in  November,  and  the  winter  had 
closed  in  early.  Colonel  Cooke  reported  to 
the  commandant  that  half  his  horses  had  per- 
ished through  cold  and  lack  of  food ;  hundreds 
of  beef  cattle  had  died;  yet  the  region  was  so 
wild  and  forbidding  that  scarcely  a  wolf  ven- 
tured there  to  glut  itself  upon  the  carcasses.  In 
Cooke's  own  words  we  read  that  for  thirty 
miles  the  road  was  blocked  with  carcasses — 
and  "with  abandoned  and  shattered  property, 
they  mark,  perhaps  beyond  example  in  history, 
the  steps  of  an  advancing  army  with  the  hor- 
rors of  a  disastrous  retreat." 

With  the  army  traveled  the  new  federal  ap- 
pointees to  offices  in  the  territory.  Gumming, 
the  governor-to-be,  issued  a  proclamation 


The  Army  in  Winter.  77 

from  his  dug-out  lodgings,  and  sent  it  to  Salt 
Lake  City  by  courier ;  he  signed  it  as  "Governor 
of  Utah  Territory."  This  but  belittled  him, 
for  by  the  very  terms  of  the  Organic  Act,  to 
uphold  which  was  the  professed  purpose  of  his 
coming,  he  was  not  governor  until  the  oath  of 
office  had  been  duly  administered  and  sub- 
scribed. A  few  days  later  he  went  before  his 
fellow-sufferer  Eckles,  the  appointee  for  chief 
justice  of  Utah,  and  took  an  oath ;  but  why  did 
he  swear  so  recklessly  when  the  one  before 
whom  he  swore  was  no  more  an  official  than 
himself? 

The  army  wintered  at  a  satisfactory  distance 
from  Salt  Lake  City,  and  such  a  winter,  ac- 
cording to  official  reports,  the  soldiers  of  our 
nation  have  rarely  had  to  brave.  It  was  soon  ap- 
parent that  they  need  fear  no  "Mormon"  attack ; 
orders  had  been  issued  to  the  territorial  militia 
to  take  no  life  except  in  cases  of  absolute  neces- 
sity; but  General  Johnston  and  his  staff  had 
more  than  their  match  in  battling  with  the  ele- 
ments. Communications  between  Governor 
Young  and  the  commandant  were  frequent; 
safe  conduct  was  assured  any  and  all  officers 
who  chose  to  enter  the  city;  and  if  necessary 


78          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

hostages  were  to  be  given;  but  the  governor 
was  inexorable  in  his  ultimatum  that,  as  an 
organized  body  with  hostile  purpose,  the  sol- 
diers should  not  pass  the  mountain  gateway. 
In  the  meantime,  a  full  account  of  the  situation 
was  reported  by  Governor  Young  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  the  truth  slowly 
made  its  way  into  the  eastern  press.  President 
Buchanan  tacitly  admitted  his  mistake;  but  to 
recall  the  troops  at  that  juncture  would  be  to 
confess  humiliating  failure. 

A  peace  commissioner,  in  the  person  of 
Colonel  Kane,  was  dispatched  to  Salt  Lake 
City;  his  coming  being  made  known  to  Gover- 
nor Young,  an  escort  was  sent  to  meet  him  and 
conduct  him  through  the  "Mormon"  lines.  The 
result  of  the  conference  was  that  the  "Mor- 
mon" leaders  but  reiterated  their  statement  that 
the  President's  appointees  would  be  given  safe 
entry  to  the  city,  and  be  duly  installed  in  their 
offices,  provided  they  would  enter  without  the 
army.  This  ultimatum  was  carried  to  the  fed- 
eral camp ;  and  to  the  open  chagrin  of  the  com- 
mandant, Governor  Cumming  and  his  fel- 
low appointees  moved  to  Salt  Lake  City  under 


The  New  Officials  Installed.          79 

"Mormon"  escort,  after  a  five  months'  halt  in 
the  wilderness. 

I  believe  that  strategy  is  usually  allowed  in 
war,  and  I  am  free  to  say  the  "Mormons" 
availed  themselves  of  this  license.  At  short 
intervals  in  the  course  of  the  night-passage 
through  the  canyon,  the  party  was  challenged, 
and  the  password  demanded;  bon-fires  were 
blazing  down  in  the  gorges,  and  the  impression 
was  made  that  the  mountains  were  full  of 
armed  men;  whereas  the  sentries  were  mem- 
bers of  the  escort,  who,  preceding  by  short  cuts 
the  main  party,  continued  to  challenge  and  to 
pass.  On  their  arrival,  the  gentlemen  were 
met  by  the  retiring  officials,  and  were  peace- 
ably installed.  The  new  governor  called  upon 
the  clerk  of  the  court,  and  ascertained  the  truth 
of  the  statement  that  the  records  were  entirely 
safe.  He  promptly  reported  his  conclusions 
to  General  Johnston  that  there  was  no  further 
need  for  the  army.  It  was  decided,  however, 
that  the  soldiers  should  be  permitted  to  march 
through  the  city,  and  straightway  the  "Mor- 
mons" began  their  exodus  to  the  south. 

Governor  Cumming  tried  in  vain  to  induce 
the  people  to  remain,  assuring  them  that  the 


80          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

troops  would  commit  no  depredations.  "Not 
so,"  said  Brigham  Young,  "we  have  had  ex- 
perience with  troops  in  the  past,  Governor  Gum- 
ming; we  have  seen  our  leaders  shot  down  by 
the  demoralized  soldiery ;  we  have  seen  mothers 
with  babes  at  their  breasts  sent  to  their  last 
home  by  the  same  bullet;  we  have  witnessed 
outrages  beyond  description.  You  are  now 
Governor  of  Utah ;  we  can  no  longer  command 
the  militia  for  our  own  defense.  We  do  not 
wish  to  fight,  therefore  we  depart."  Leaving 
a  few  men  to  apply  the  brand  to  the  combusti- 
bles stored  in  every  house,  at  the  first  sign 
of  plunder  by  the  soldiers,  the  people  again 
deserted  their  homes  and  moved  into  the  desert 
anew. 

But  the  officers  of  the  army  kept  their  word ; 
the  troops  were  put  into  camp  forty  miles  from 
the  settlements,  and  the  settlers  returned.  The 
President's  commissioners  brought  the  official 
pardon,  unsolicited,  for  all  acts  committed  by 
the  "Mormons"  in  opposing  the  entrance  of  the 
army.  The  people  asked  what  they  had  done 
that  needed  pardon ;  they  had  not  robbed,  they 
had  not  killed.  But  a  critical  analysis  of  these 
troublous  events  revealed  at  least  one  overt 


Amnesty  Granted.  81 

act — some  "Mormon"  scouts  had  challenged  a 
supply  train ;  and,  being  opposed,  they  had  des- 
troyed some  of  the  wagons  and  provisions ;  and 
for  this  they  accepted  the  President's  most  gra- 
cious pardon. 


V. 


AFTER  all,  the  "Mormon"  people  regard 
the  advent  of  the  Buchanan  army  as  one 
of  the  greatest  material  blessings  ever  brought 
to  them. 

The  troops,  once  in  Utah,  had  to  be  pro- 
visioned; and  everything  the  settlers  could 
spare  was  eagerly  bought  at  an  unusual  price. 
The  gold  changed  hands.  Then,  in  their  hasty 
departure,  the  soldiers  disposed  of  everything 
outside  of  actual  necessities  in  the  way  of  accou- 
terment  and  camp  equipage.  The  army 
found  the  people  in  poverty,  and  left  them  in 
comparative  wealth. 

And  what  was  the  cause  of  this  hurried  de- 
parture of  the  military?  For  many  months, 
ominous  rumblings  had  been  heard, — indica- 
tions of  the  gathering  storm  which  was  soon 
to  break  in  the  awful  fury  of  civil  strife.  It 
could  not  be  doubted  that  war  was  imminent; 
already  the  conflict  had  begun,  and  a  picked 
part  of  the  army  was  away  in  the  western  wilds, 


Underlying  Causes.  83 

doing  nothing  for  any  phase  of  the  public 
good.  But  a  word  further  concerning  the  ex- 
pedition in  general.  The  sending  of  troops 
to  Utah  was  part  of  a  foul  scheme  to  weaken 
the  government  in  its  impending  struggle  with 
the  secessionists.  The  movement  has  been 
called  not  inaptly  "Buchanan's  blunder,"  but 
the  best  and  wisest  .men  may  make  blunders, 
and  whatever  may  be  said  of  President  Bu- 
chanan's short-sightedness  in  taking  this  step, 
even  his  enemies  do  not  question  his  integrity 
in  the  matter.  He  was  unjustly  charged  with 
favoring  secession;  but  the  charge  was  soon 
disproved. 

However,  it  was  known  that  certain  of  his 
cabinet  were  in  league  with  the  seceding  states ; 
and  prominent  among  them  was  John  Floyd, 
secretary  of  war.  The  successful  efforts  of 
this  officer  to  disarm  the  North,  while  accum- 
ulating the  munitions  of  war  in  the  South;  to 
scatter  the  forces  by  locating  them  in  widely 
separated  and  remote  stations;  and  in  other 
ways  to  dispose  of  the  regular  army  in  the  man- 
ner best  calculated  to  favor  the  anticipated  re- 
bellion, are  matters  of  history.  It  is  also  told 
how,  at  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion, 


84          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

he  allied  himself  with  the  confederate  forces, 
accepting  the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  It 
was  through  Floyd's  advice  that  Buchanan 
ordered  the  military  expedition  to  Utah,  os- 
tensibly to  install  certain  federal  officials  and 
to  repress  an  alleged  infantile  rebellion  which 
in  fact  had  never  come  into  existence,  but  in 
reality  to  further  the  interests  of  the  seces- 
sionists. When  the  history  of  that  great  strug- 
gle with  its  antecedent  and  its  consequent  cir- 
cumstances is  written  with  a  pen  that  shall  in- 
dite naught  but  truth,  when  prejudice  and 
partisanship  are  lived  down,  it  may  appear  that 
Jefferson  Davis  rather  than  James  Buchanan 
was  the  prime  cause  of  the  great  mistake. 

And  General  Johnston  who  commanded  the 
army  in  the  west;  he  who  was  so  vehement  in 
his  denunciation  of  the  rebel  "Mormons,"  and 
who  rejoiced  in  being  selected  to  chastise  them 
into  submission;  who,  because  of  his  vindic- 
tiveness  incurred  the  ill-favor  of  the  governor, 
whose  posse  comitatus  the  army  was;  what 
became  of  him,  at  one  time  so  popular  that  he 
was  spoken  of  as  a  likely  successor  to  Win- 
field  Scott  in  the  office  of  general-in-chief  of  the 
United  States  army?  He  left  Utah  in  the 


No  Secession  in  Utah.  85 

early  stages  of  the  rebellion,  turned  his  arms 
against  the  flag  he  had  sworn  to  defend,  doffed 
the  blue,  donned  the  grey,  and  fell  a  rebel  on 
the  field  of  Shiloh. 

Changes  many  and  great  followed  in  bewil- 
dering succession  in  Utah.  The  people  were 
besought  to  takes  sides  with  the  South  in  the 
awful  scenes  of  cruel  strife;  it  was  openly 
stated  in  the  east  that  Utah  had  allied  her- 
self with  the  cause  of  secession;  and  by  others 
that  the  design  was  to  make  Salt  Lake  City 
the  capital  of  an  independent  government.  And 
surely  such  conjectures  were  pardonable  on  the 
part  of  all  whose  ignorance  and  prejudice  still 
nursed  the  delusion  of  "Mormon"  disloyalty. 
Moreover,  had  the  people  been  inclined  to  re- 
bellion what  greater  opportunity  could  they 
have  wished?  Already  a  North  and  a  South 
were  talked  of — why  not  set  up  also  a  West? 
A  supreme  opportunity  had  come  and  how  was 
it  used?  It  was  at  this  very  time  that  the 
Overland  Telegraph  line,  which  had  been  ap- 
proaching from  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific, 
was  completed,  and  the  first  tremor  felt  in  that 
nerve  of  steel  carried  these  words  from  Brig- 
ham  Young: 


86          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

Utah  has  not  seceded,  but  is  firm  for  the  con- 
stitution and  laws  of  our  country. 

The  "Mormon"  people  saw  in  their  terrible 
experiences  and  in  the  outrages  to  which  they 
had  been  subjected,  only  the  mal-administra- 
tion  of  laws  and  the  subversion  of  justice 
through  human  incapacity  and  hatred.  Never 
even  for  a  moment  did  they  question  the  su- 
preme authority  and  the  inspired  origin  of  the 
constitution  of  their  land.  They  knew  no 
North,  no  South,  no  East,  no  West ;  they  stood 
positively  by  the  constitution,  and  would  have 
nothing  to  do  in  the  bloody  strife  between 
brothers,  unless  indeed  they  were  summoned 
by  the  authority  to  which  they  had  already  once 
loyally  responded,  to  furnish  men  and  arms 
for  their  country's  need. 

Following  the  advent  of  the  telegraph  came 
the  railway;  and  the  land  of  "Mormondom" 
was  no  longer  isolated.  Her  resources  were 
developed,  her  wealth  became  a  topic  of  the 
world's  wonder;  the  tide  of  immigration 
swelled  her  population,  contributing  much  of 
the  best  from  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
earth.  Every  reader  of  recent  and  current 


Utah  Becomes  a  State.  87 

history  has  learned  of  her  rapid  growth;  of 
her  repeated  appeals  for  the  recognition  to 
which  she  had  so  long  been  entitled  in  the  sis- 
terhood of  states;  of  the  prompt  refusals  with 
which  her  pleas  were  persistently  met,  though 
other  territories  with  smaller  and  more  illit- 
erate populations,  more  restricted  resources, 
and  in  every  way  weaker  claims,  were  allowed 
to  assume  the  habiliments  of  maturity,  while 
Utah,  lusty,  large  and  strong,  was  kept  in 
swaddling  clothes.  But  the  cries  of  the  vigor- 
ous infant  were  at  length  heeded,  and  in  an- 
swer to  the  seventh  appeal  of  the  kind,  Utah's 
star  was  added  to  the  nation's  galaxy. 

But  let  us  turn  more  particularly  to  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church  itself.  For  a  second  time 
and  thrice  thereafter,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints  has  been  deprived  of 
its  president,  and  on  each  occasion  were  reiter- 
ated the  prophecies  of  disruption  uttered  at  the 
time  of  Joseph  Smith's  assassination.  Calm 
observers  declared  that  as  the  shepherd  had 
gone,  the  flock  would  soon  be  dispersed;  while 
others,  comparable  only  to  wolves,  thinking 
the  fold  unguarded,  sought  to  harry  and  scat- 
ter the  sheep.  But  "Mormonism"  died  not; 


88          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

every  added  pang  of  grief  served  but  to  unite 
the  people. 

When  Brigham  Young  passed  from  earth, 
he  was  mourned  of  the  people  as  deeply  as  was 
Moses  of  Israel.  And  had  he  not  proved  him- 
self a  Moses,  aye  and  a  Joshua,  too  ?  He  had 
led  the  people  into  the  land  of  holy  promise, 
and  had  divided  unto  them  their  inheritances. 
He  was  a  man  with  clear  title  as  one  of  the 
small  brotherhood  we  call  great.  As  carpenter, 
farmer,  pioneer,  capitalist,  financier,  preacher, 
apostle,  prophet — in  everything  he  was  a  lead- 
er among  men.  Even  those  who  opposed  him 
in  politics  and  in  religion  respected  him  for 
his  talents,  his  magnanimity,  his  liberality,  and 
his  manliness;  and  years  after  his  demise,  men 
who  had  refused  him  honor  while  alive 
brought  their  mites  and  their  gold  to  erect  a 
monument  of  stone  and  bronze  to  the  memory 
of  this  man  who  needs  it  not.  With  his  death 
closed  another  epoch  in  the  history  of  his  peo- 
ple, and  a  successor  arose,  one  who  was  capa- 
ble of  leading  and  judging  under  the  changed 
conditions. 


But  perhaps  I  am  suspected  of  having  for- 


Celestial  Marriage.  89 

gotten  or  of  having  intentionally  omitted  ref- 
erence to  what  popular  belief  once  considered 
the  chief  feature  of  "Mormonism,"  the  corner- 
stone of  the  structure,  the  secret  of  its  influence 
over  its  members,  and  of  its  attractiveness  to 
its  proselytes,  viz.,  the  peculiarity  of  the  "Mor- 
mon" institution  of  marriage.  The  Latter-day 
Saints  were  long  regarded  as  a  polygamous 
people.  That  plural  marriage  has  been  prac- 
tised by  a  limited  proportion  of  the  people, 
under  sanction  of  Church  ordinance,  has  never 
since  the  introduction  of  the  system  been  de- 
nied. But  that  plural  marriage  is  a  vital  tenet 
of  the  Church  is  not  true.  What  the  Latter- 
day  Saints  call  celestial  marriage  is  character- 
istic of  the  Church,  and  is  in  very  general  prac- 
tise; but  of  celestial  marriage,  plurality  of 
wives  was  an  incident,  never  an  essential.  Yet 
the  two  have  often  been  confused  in  the  pop- 
ular mind. 

We  believe  in  a  literal  resurrection  and  an 
actual  hereafter,  in  which  future  state  shall  be 
recognized  every  sanctified  and  authorized  re- 
lationship existing  here  on  earth — of  parent 
and  child,  brother  and  sister,  husband  and  wife. 
We  believe,  further  that  contracts  as  of  mar- 


90          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

riage,  to  be  valid  beyond  the  veil  of  mortality 
must  be  sanctioned  by  a  power  greater  than  that 
of  earth.  With  the  seal  of  the  holy  Priesthood 
upon  their  wedded  state,  these  people  believe 
implicitly  in  the  perpetuity  of  that  relationship 
on  the  far  side  of  the  grave.  They  marry  not 
with  the  saddening  limitation  "Until  death  do 
you  part/'  but  "For  time  and  for  all  eternity."* 
This  constitutes  celestial  marriage.  The  thought 
that  plural  marriage  has  ever  been  the  head 
and  front  of  "Mormon"  offending,  that  to  it 
is  traceable  as  the  true  cause  the  hatred  of  other 
sects  and  the  unpopularity  of  the  Church,  is 
not  tenable  to  the  earnest  thinker.  Sad  as 
have  been  the  experiences  of  the  people  in  con- 
sequence of  this  practise,  deep  and  anguish- 
laden  as  have  been  the  sighs  and  groans,  hot 
and  bitter  as  have  been  the  tears  so  caused,  the 
heaviest  persecution,  the  cruelest  treatment  of 
their  history  began  before  plural  marriage  was 
known  in  the  Church. 

There  is  no  sect  nor  people  that  sets  a  higher 
value  on  virtue  and  chastity  than  do  the  Latter- 


*For  treatment  of  Celestial  Marriage  and  other  Tem- 
ple ordinances,  see  "The  House  of  the  Lord,"  by  the 
present  author,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  1912. 


Inception  of  Plural  Marriage.          91 

day  Saints,  nor  a  people  that  visits  surer  retri- 
bution upon  the  heads  of  offenders  against  the 
laws  of  sexual  purity.  To  them  marriage  is 
not,  can  never  be,  a  civil  compact  alone ;  its  sig- 
nificance reaches  beyond  the  grave;  its  obliga- 
tions are  eternal ;  and  the  Latter-day  Saints 
are  notable  for  the  sanctity  with  which  they 
invest  the  marital  state.  It  has  been  my  priv- 
ilege to  tread  the  soil  of  many  lands,  to  observe 
the  customs  and  study  the  habits  of  more  na- 
tions than  one ;  and  I  have  yet  to  find  the  place 
and  meet  the  people,  where  and  with  whom  the 
purity  of  man  and  woman  is  held  more  precious 
than  among  the  maligned  "Mormons"  in  the 
mountain  valleys  of  the  west.  There  I  find  this 
measure  of  just  equality  of  the  sexes — that  the 
sins  of  man  shall  not  be  visited  upon  the  head  of 
woman. 

At  the  inception  of  plural  marriage  among 
the  Latter-day  Saints,  there  was  no  law,  na- 
tional or  state,  against  its  practise.  This  state- 
ment assumes,  as  granted,  a  distinction  between 
bigamy  and  the  "Mormon"  institution  of  plural 
marriage.  In  1862,  a  law  was  enacted  with 
the  purpose  of  suppressing  plural  marriage,  and, 
as  had  been  predicted  in  the  national  Senate 


92          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

prior  to  its  passage,  it  lay  for  many  years  a  dead 
letter.  Federal  judges  and  United  States  at- 
torneys in  Utah,  who  were  not  "Mormons"  nor 
lovers  of  "Mormonism,"  refused  to  entertain 
complaints  or  prosecute  cases  under  the  law,  be- 
cause of  its  manifest  injustice  and  inadequacy. 
But  other  laws  followed,  most  of  which,  as 
the  Latter-day  Saints  believe,  were  aimed  di- 
rectly at  their  religious  conception  of  the  mar- 
riage contract,  and  not  at  social  impropriety  nor 
sexual  offense. 

At  last  the  Edmunds-Tucker  act  took  effect, 
making  not  the  marriage  alone  but  the  subse- 
quent acknowledging  of  the  contract  an  offense 
punishable  by  fine  or  imprisonment  or  both. 
Under  the  spell  of  unrighteous  zeal,  the  federal 
judiciary  of  Utah  announced  and  practised  that 
most  infamous  doctrine  of  segregation  of  of- 
fenses with  accumulating  penalties. 

I  who  write  have  listened  to  judges  instruct- 
ing grand  juries  in  such  terms  as  these:  that 
although  the  law  of  Congress  designated  as  an 
offense  the  acknowledging  of  more  living  wives 
than  one  by  any  man,  and  prescribed  a  penalty 
therefor,  as  Congress  had  not  specified  the 
length  of  time  during  which  this  unlawful  ac- 


Infamous  Segregation  Doctrine.       93 

knowledging  must  continue  to  constitute  the 
offense,  grand  juries  might  indict  separately  for 
every  day  of  the  period  during  which  the  for- 
bidden relationship  existed.  This  meant  that 
for  an  alleged  misdemeanor — for  which  Con- 
gress prescribed  a  maximum  penalty  of  six 
months'  imprisonment  and  a  fine  of  three  hun- 
dred dollars — a  man  might  be  imprisoned  for 
life,  aye,  for  many  terms  of  a  man's  natural  life 
did  the  court's  power  to  enforce  its  sentences 
extend  so  far,  and  might  be  fined  millions  of 
dollars.  Before  this  travesty  on  the  adminis- 
tration of  law  could  be  brought  before  the  court 
of  last  resort,  and  there  meet  with  the  reversal 
and  rebuke  it  deserved,  men  were  imprisoned 
under  sentences  of  many  years'  duration. 

The  people  contested  these  measures  one  by 
one  in  the  courts;  presenting  in  case  after  case 
the  different  phases  of  the  subject,  and  urging 
the  unconstitutionality  of  the  measure.  Then 
the  Church  was  disincorporated,  and  its  prop- 
erty both  real  and  personal  confiscated  and 
escheated  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States ;  and  although  the  personal  property  was 
soon  restored,  real  estate  of  great  value  long 
lay  in  the  hands  of  the  court's  receiver,  and  the 


94          The  Story  of  "Mormonism." 

"Mormon"  Church  had  to  pay  the  national  gov- 
ernment high  rental  on  its  own  property.  But 
the  people  have  suspended  the  practise  of  plural 
marriage;  and  the  testimony  of  the  governors, 
judges,  and  district  attorneys  of  the  territory, 
and  later  that  of  the  officers  of  the  state,  have 
declared  the  sincerity  of  the  renunciation. 

As  the  people  had  adopted  the  practise  under 
what  was  believed  to  be  divine  approval,  they 
suspended  it  when  they  were  justified  in  so  do- 
ing. In  whatever  light  this  practise  has  been 
regarded  in  the  past,  it  is  today  a  dead  issue, 
forbidden  by  ecclesiastical  rule  as  it  is  prohib- 
ited by  legal  statute.  And  the  world  is  learn- 
ing, to  its  manifest  surprise,  that  plural  mar- 
riage and  "Mormonism"  are  not  synonymous 
terms. 


And  so  the  story  of  "Mormonism"  runs  on; 
its  finale  has  not  yet  been  written;  the  current 
press  presents  continuously  new  stages  of  its 
progress,  new  developments  of  its  plan.  Today 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints 
is  stronger  than  ever  before ;  and  the  people  are 
confident  that  it  is  at  its  weakest  stage  for  all 


"Mormonism"  Destined  to  Live.       95 

time  to  come.  It  lives  and  thrives  because  with- 
in it  are  the  elements  of  thrift  and  the  forces 
of  life.  It  embraces  a  boundless  liberality  of 
belief  and  practise ;  true  toleration  is  one  of  its 
essential  features;  it  makes  love  for  mankind 
second  only  to  love  for  Deity.  Its  creed  pro- 
vides for  the  protection  of  all  men  in  their  rights 
of  worship  according  to  the  dictates  of  con- 
science. It  contemplates  a  millennium  of  peace, 
when  every  man  shall  love  his  neighbor  and  re- 
spect his  neighbor's  opinion  as  he  regards  him- 
self and  his  own — a  day  when  the  voice  of  the 
people  shall  be  in  unison  with  the  voice  of  God. 


The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism 


The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 


I. 

IN  this  attempt  to  treat  the  philosophy  of 
"Mormonism"  it  is  assumed  that  no  discus- 
sion of  Christianity  in  general  nor  of  the  philos- 
ophy of  Christianity  is  required.  The  "Mor- 
mon" creed,  so  far  as  there  is  a  creed  professed 
by  the  Latter-day  Saints,  is  pre-eminently  Chris- 
tian in  theory,  precept,  and  practise.  In  what 
respect,  then,  may  be  properly  asked,  does 
"Mormonism"  differ  from  the  faith  and  prac- 
tise of  other  professedly  Christian  systems — in 
short,  what  is  "Mormonism?" 

First,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  term 
"Mormon,"  with  its  derivatives,  is  not  the  offi- 
cial designation  of  the  Church  with  which  it  is 
usually  associated.  The  name  was  originally 
applied  in  a  spirit  of  derision,  as  a  nick-name 
in  fact,  by  the  opponents  of  the  Church;  and 
was  doubtless  suggested  by  the  title  of  a  promi- 
nent publication  given  to  the  world  through 
Joseph  Smith  in  an  early  period  of  the  Church's 


100    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

history.  This,  of  course,  is  the  Book  of  Mor- 
mon. Nevertheless,  the  people  have  accepted 
the  name  thus  thrust  upon  them,  and  answer 
readily  to  its  call.  The  proper  title  of  the  or- 
ganization is  "The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-day  Saints."  The  philosophy  of  "Mor- 
monism" is  declared  in  the  name.  The  people 
claim  this  name  as  having  been  bestowed  by 
revelation  and  therefore  that,  like  other  names 
given  of  God  as  attested  by  scriptural  instances, 
it  is  at  once  name  and  title  combined. 

The  Church  declines  to  sail  under  any  flag 
of  man-made  design ;  it  repudiates  the  name  of 
mortals  as  a  part  of  its  title,  and  thus  differs 
from  Lutherans  and  Wesleyans,  Calvinists, 
Mennonites,  and  many  others,  all  of  whom, 
worthy  though  their  organizations  may  be,  ele- 
vating as  may  be  their  precepts,  good  as  may 
be  their  practises,  declare  themselves  the  fol- 
lowers of  men.  This  is  not  the  church  of 
Moses  nor  the  prophets,  of  Paul  nor  of  Cephas, 
of  Apollos  nor  of  John ;  neither  of  Joseph  Smith 
nor  of  Brigham  Young.  It  asserts  its  proud 
claim  as  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  refuses  to  wear  a  name  indicative  of  dis- 
tinctive or  peculiar  doctrines;  and  in  this  par- 


The  Articles  of  Faith.  101 

ticular,  it  differs  from  churches  Catholic  and 
Protestant,  Presbyterian,  Congregationalist, 
Unitarian,  Methodist  and  Baptist;  its  sole  dis- 
tinguishing features  are  those  of  the  Church  of 
Christ. 

In  an  effort  to  present  in  concise  form  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  this  organization,  I  can- 
not do  better  than  quote  the  so-called  "Articles 
of  Faith  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Lat- 
ter-day Saints,"  which  have  been  in  published 
form  before  the  world  for  over  half  a  century.* 

1.  We  believe  in  God,  the  Eternal  Father, 
and  in  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

2.  We  believe  that  men  will  be  punished  for 
their  own  sins,  and  not  for  Adam's  transgres- 
sion. 

3.  We  believe  that,  through  the  atonement 
of  Christ,  all  mankind  may  be  saved,  by  obe- 
dience to  the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the  gospel. 

4.  We  believe  that  the  first  principles  and 
ordinances  of  the  gospel  are:     First,  Faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus   Christ;    second,   Repentance; 

*For  extended  treatment  of  "Mormon"  doctrine 
see  "The  Articles  of  Faith;  a  Series  of  Lectures  on 
the  Principal  Doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints,"  by  James  E.  Talmage.  Pub- 
lished by  the  Church:  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah;  485  pp. 


102    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

third,  Baptism  by  immersion  for  the  remission 
of  sins ;  fourth,  Laying  on  of  hands  for  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

5.  We  believe  that  a  man  must  be  called  of 
God,   by  prophecy,   and  by  the  laying  on   of 
hands,  by  those  who  are  in  authority,  to  preach 
the  gospel   and  administer   in  the   ordinances 
thereof. 

6.  We  believe  in  the  same  organization  that 
existed  in  the  primitive  church,  namely,  apos- 
tles, prophets,  pastors,  teachers,  evangelists,  etc. 

7.  We  believe  in  the  gift  of  tongues,  proph- 
ecy, revelation,  visions,  healing,  interpretation 
of  tongues,  etc. 

8.  We  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of 
God,  as  far  as  it  is  translated  correctly ;  we  also 
believe  the  Book  of  Mormon  to  be  the  word  of 
God. 

9.  We  believe  all  that  God  has  revealed,  all 
that  he  does  now  reveal,  and  we  believe  that  he 
will  yet  reveal  many  great  and  important  things 
pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

10.  We  believe  in  the  literal  gathering  of 
Israel  and  in  the  restoration  of  the  Ten  Tribes ; 
that  Zion  will  be  built  upon  this  [the  American] 
continent ;  that  Christ  will  reign  personally  upon 
the  earth,  and  that  the  earth  will  be  renewed  and 
receive  its  paradisiacal  glory. 

11.  We  claim  the  privilege  of  worshiping 
Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  our 


Brief  Summary  of  Doctrine.         103 

own  conscience,  and  allow  all  men  the  same 
privilege,  let  them  worship  how,  where,  or  what 
they  may. 

12.  We  believe  in  being  subject  to  kings, 
presidents,  rulers  and  magistrates,  in  obeying, 
honoring  and  sustaining  the  law. 

13.  We  believe  in  being  honest,  true,  chaste, 
benevolent,  virtuous,  and  in  doing  good  to  all 
men ;  indeed  we  may  say  that  we  follow  the  ad- 
monition of  Paul,  We  believe  all  things,  we 
hope  all  things,  we  have  endured  many  things, 
and  hope  to  be  able  to  endure  all  things.     If 
there  is  anything  virtuous,  lovely,  or  of  good 
report  or  praiseworthy,   we   seek   after   these 
things. — JOSEPH  SMITH. 

This  brief  summary  of  "Mormon"  doctrine 
appears  over  the  signature  of  Joseph  Smith — the 
man  whom  the  Latter-day  Saints  accept  as  the 
instrument  in  divine  hands  of  re-establishing 
the  Church  of  Christ  on  earth,  in  this  the  Dis- 
pensation of  the  Fulness  of  Times.  Let  it  not 
be  supposed,  however,  that  these  Articles  of 
Faith  are,  or  profess  to  be,  a  complete  code  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  for,  as  declared  in 
one  of  the  "Articles,"  belief  in  continuous  reve- 
lation from  Heaven  is  a  characteristic  feature 
of  "Mormonism."  Yet  it  is  to  be  noted  that  no 


104    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

doctrine  has  been  promulgated,  which  by  even 
strained  interpretation  could  be  construed  as 
antagonistic  to  this  early  declaration  of  faith. 
Nor  has  any  revelation  to  the  Church  yet  ap- 
peared in  opposition  to  earlier  revelation  of  this 
or  of  by-gone  dispensations. 

To  most  of  the  declarations  in  the  Articles  of 
Faith,  many  sects  professing  Christianity  could 
confidently  pledge  allegiance ;  to  many  of  them, 
all  Christian  organizations  could  and  profess- 
edly do  subscribe.  Belief  in  the  existence  and 
powers  of  the  Supreme  Trinity ;  in  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  Savior  and  Redeemer  of  mankind;  in 
man's  individual  accountability  for  his  doings; 
in  the  acceptance  of  sacred  writ  as  the  Word  of 
God;  in  the  rights  of  worship  according  to  the 
dictates  of  conscience ;  in  all  the  moral  virtues ; 
—these  professions  and  beliefs  are  as  a  common 
creed  in  the  realm  of  Christendom.  There  is 
no  peculiarly  "Mormon"  interpretation,  in  the 
light  of  which  these  principles  of  faith  and  prac- 
tise are  viewed  by  the  Latter-day  Saints,  except 
in  a  certain  simplicity  and  literalness  of  accept- 
ance— gross  literalness,  unrefined  materialism, 
it  has  been  called  by  some  critical  opponents. 

The  gospel  plan  as  accepted  and  taught  by 


Simplicity  of  Doctrine.  105 

the  Latter-day  Saints  is  strikingly  simple;  dis- 
appointing in  its  simplicity,  indeed,  to  the  mind 
that  can  find  satisfaction  in  mysteries  alone,  and 
to  him  whose  love  for  metaphor,  symbolism, 
and  imagery  are  stronger  than  his  devotion  to 
truth  itself,  which  may  or  may  not  be  thus  em- 
bellished. The  Church  asserts  that  the  wisdom 
of  human  learning,  while  ranking  among  the 
choicest  of  earthly  possessions,  is  not  essential 
to  an  understanding  of  the  gospel ;  and  that  the 
preacher  of  the  Word  must  be  otherwise  en- 
dowed than  by  the  learning  of  the  schoolmen. 
"Mormonism"  is  for  the  wayfaring  man,  not 
less  than  for  the  scholar,  and  it  possesses  a  sim- 
plicity adapting  it  to  the  one  as  to  the  other.  A 
few  of  the  characteristically  "Mormon"  tenets 
may  perhaps  be  profitably  considered. 

"Mormonism"  affirms  its  unqualified  belief  in 
the  Godhead  as  the  Holy  Trinity,  comprising 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  each  of  the  three 
a  separate  and  individual  personage ;  the  Father 
and  the  Son  each  a  personage  of  spirit  and  of 
immortalized  body;  the  Holy  Ghost  a  person- 
age of  spirit. 

The  unity  of  the  Godhead  is  accepted  in  the 
literal  fulness  of  scriptural  declaration — that 


106    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

the  three  are  one  in  purpose,  plan  and  method , 
alike  in  all  their  Godly  attributes;  one  in  their 
divine  omniscience  and  omnipotence ;  yet  as  sep- 
arate and  distinct  in  their  personality  as  are  any 
three  inhabitants  of  earth.  "Mormonism" 
claims  that  scriptures  declaring  the  oneness  of 
the  Trinity  admit  of  this  interpretation;  that 
such  indeed  is  the  natural  interpretation;  and 
that  the  conception  is  in  accord  with  reason. 

We  hold  that  mankind  are  literally  the  spir- 
itual children  of  God;  that  even  as  the  Christ 
had  an  existence  with  the  Father  before  coming 
to  earth  to  take  upon  himself  a  tabernacle  of 
flesh,  to  live  and  to  die  as  a  man  in  accordance 
with  the  fore-ordained  plan  of  redemption,  so, 
too,  every  child  of  earth  had  an  existence  in  the 
spirit-state  before  entering  upon  this  mortal 
probation.  We  hold  the  doctrine  to  be  reason- 
able, scriptural  and  true,  that  mortal  birth  is  no 
more  the  beginning  of  the  soul's  existence  than 
is  death  its  end. 

The  time-span  of  mortal  life  is  but  one  stage 
in  the  soul's  career,  separating  the  eternity  that 
has  preceded  from  the  eternity  that  is  to  follow. 
And  this  mortal  existence  is  one  of  the  Father's 
great  gifts  to  his  spiritual  children,  affording 


Free  Agency  of  Man.  107 

them  the  opportunity  of  an  untrammeled  ex- 
ercise of  their  free  agency,  the  privilege  of 
meeting  temptation  and  of  resisting  it  if  they 
will,  the  chance  to  win  exaltation  and  eternal 
life. 

We  claim  that  all  men  are  equal  as  to  earthly 
rights  and  human  privileges ;  but  that  each  has 
individual  capacity  and  capabilities ;  that  in  the 
primeval  world  there  were  spirits  noble  and 
great,  as  there  were  others  of  lesser  power  and 
inferior  purpose.  There  is  no  chance  in  the 
number  or  nature  of  spirits  that  are  born  to 
earth;  all  who  are  entitled  to  the  privileges  of 
mortality  and  have  been  assigned  to  this  sphere 
shall  come  at  the  time  appointed,  and  shall  re- 
turn to  inherit  each  the  glory  or  the  degradation 
to  which  he  has  shown  himself  adapted.  The 
gospel  as  understood  by  the  Latter-day  Saints 
affirms  the  unconditional  free-agency  of  man — 
his  right  to  accept  good  or  evil,  to  choose  the 
means  of  eternal  progression  or  the  opposite,  to 
worship  as  he  elects,  or  to  refuse  to  worship  at 
all — and  then  to  take  the  consequences  of  his 
choice. 

"Mormonism"  rejects  what  it  regards  as  a 
heresy,  the  false  doctrine  of  pre-destination  as 


108    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

an  absolute  compulsion  or  even  as  an  irresistible 
tendency  forced  upon  the  individual  toward 
right  or  wrong — as  a  pre-appointment  to  event- 
ual exaltation  or  condemnation;  yet  it  affirms 
that  the  infinite  wisdom  and  fore-knowledge  of 
God  makes  plain  to  him  the  end  from  the  begin- 
ning; and  that  he  can  read  in  the  natures  and 
dispositions  of  his  children,  their  destiny. 

"Mormonism"  claims  an  actual  and  literal  re- 
lationship of  parent  and  child  between  the  Crea- 
tor and  man — not  in  the  figurative  sense  in 
which  the  engine  may  be  called  the  child  of  its 
builder ;  not  the  relationship  of  a  thing  mechan- 
ically made  to  the  maker  thereof;  but  the  kin- 
ship of  father  and  offspring.  In  short  it  is  bold 
enough  to  declare  that  man's  spirit  being  the 
offspring  of  Deity,  and  man's  body  though  of 
earthy  components  yet  being  in  the  very  image 
and  likeness  of  God,  man  even  in  his  present  de- 
graded— aye,  fallen  condition — still  possesses, 
if  only  in  a  latent  state,  inherited  traits,  tenden- 
cies and  powers  that  tell  of  his  more  than  royal 
descent ;  and  that  these  may  be  developed  so  as 
to  make  him,  even  while  mortal,  in  a  measure 
Godlike. 

But  "Mormonism"  is  bolder  yet.     It  asserts 


Eternal  Progression  of  Man.        109 

that  in  accordance  with  the  inviolable  law  of  or- 
ganic nature — that  like  shall  beget  like,  and  that 
multiplication  of  numbers  and  perpetuation  of 
species  shall  be  in  compliance  with  the  condi- 
tion "each  after  his  kind,"  the  child  may  achieve 
the  former  status  of  the  parent,  and  that  in  his 
mortal  condition  man  is  a  God  in  embryo.  How- 
ever far  in  the  future  it  may  be,  what  ages  may 
elapse,  what  eternities  may  pass  before  any  in- 
dividual now  a  mortal  being  may  attain  the  rank 
and  sanctity  of  godship,  man  nevertheless  car- 
ries in  his  soul  the  possibilities  of  such  achieve- 
ment; even  as  the  crawling  caterpillar  or  the 
corpse-like  chrysalis  holds  the  latent  possibility, 
nay,  barring  destruction,  the  certainty  indeed, 
of  the  winged  imago  in  all  the  glory  of  ma- 
turity. 

"Mormonism"  claims  that  all  nature,  both  on 
earth  and  in  heaven,  operates  on  a  plan  of  ad- 
vancement; that  the  very  Eternal  Father  is  a 
progressive  Being ;  that  his  perfection,  while  so 
complete  as  to  be  incomprehensible  by  man,  pos- 
sesses this  essential  quality  of  true  perfection — 
the  capacity  of  eternal  increase.  That  there- 
fore, in  the  far  future,  beyond  the  horizon  of 
eternities  perchance,  man  may  attain  the  status 


1 10    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

of  a  God.  Yet  this  does  not  mean  that  he  shall 
be  then  the  equal  of  the  Deity  he  now  worships 
nor  that  he  shall  ever  overtake  those  intelli- 
gences that  are  already  beyond  him  in  advance- 
ment ;  for  to  assert  such  would  be  to  argue  that 
there  is  no  progression  beyond  a  certain  stage 
of  attainment,  and  that  advancement  is  a  char- 
acteristic of  low  organization  and  inferior  pur- 
pose alone.  We  believe  that  there  was  more 
than  the  sounding  of  brass  or  the  tinkling  of 
wordy  cymbals  in  the  fervent  admonition  of  the 
Christ  to  his  followers — "Be  ye  therefore  per- 
fect, even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is 
perfect."  (Matt.  5:48.) 

But  it  is  beyond  dispute  that  in  his  present 
state,  man  is  far  from  the  condition  of  even  a 
relatively  perfect  being.  He  is  born  heir  to  the 
weaknesses  as  well  as  to  the  excellencies  of  gen- 
erations of  ancestors ;  he  inherits  potent  tenden- 
cies for  both  good  and  evil ;  and  verily,  it  seems 
that  in  the  flesh  he  has  to  suffer  for  the  sins  of 
his  progenitors.  But  divine  blessings  are  not  to 
be  reckoned  in  terms  of  earthly  possessions  or 
bodily  excellencies  alone;  the  child  born  under 
conditions  of  adversity  may  after  all  be  richly 
endowed  with  opportunity,  opportunity  which, 


The  Fall  of  Man.  Ill 

perhaps,  had  been  less  of  service  amid  the  sur- 
roundings of  luxury.  We  hold  that  the  Father 
has  an  individual  interest  in  his  children;  and 
that  surely  in  the  rendering  of  divine  judgment, 
the  conditions  under  which  each  soul  has  lived 
in  mortality  shall  be  considered. 

"Mormonism"  accepts  the  doctrine  of  the 
Fall,  and  the  account  of  the  transgression  in 
Eden,  as  set  forth  in  Genesis ;  but  it  affirms  that 
none  but  Adam  is  or  shall  be  answerable  for 
Adam's  disobedience;  that  mankind  in  general 
are  absolutely  absolved  from  responsibility 
for  that  "original  sin,"  and  that  each  shall  ac- 
count for  his  own  transgressions  alone ;  that  the 
Fall  was  foreknown  of  God — that  it  was  turned 
to  good  effect  by  which  the  necessary  condition 
of  mortality  should  be  inaugurated ;  and  that  a 
Redeemer  was  provided,  before  the  world  was ; 
that  general  salvation,  in  the  sense  of  redemp- 
tion from  the  effects  of  the  Fall,  comes  to  all 
without  their  seeking  it;  but  that  individual  sal- 
vation or  rescue  from  the  effects  of  personal  sins 
is  to  be  acquired  by  each  for  himself  by  faith 
and  good  works  through  the  redemption 
wrought  by  Jesus  Christ.  The  Church  holds 
that  children  are  born  to  earth  in  a  sinless  state, 


1 12    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

that  they  need  no  individual  redemption;  that 
should  they  die  before  reaching  years  of  ac- 
countability, they  return  without  taint  of  earth- 
ly sin;  but  as  they  attain  youth  or  maturity  in 
the  flesh,  their  responsibility  increases  with  their 
development. 

According  to  the  teachings  of  "Mormonism," 
Christ's  instructions  to  the  people  to  pray  "Thy 
Kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done,  on  earth  as  it 
is  in  heaven"  was  not  a  petition  for  the  impossi- 
ble, but  a  fore-shadowing  of  what  shall  event- 
ually be.  We  believe  that  the  day  shall  yet 
come  when  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth  shall 
be  one  with  the  Kingdom  in  heaven;  and  one 
King  shall  rule  in  both.  The  Church  is  re- 
garded as  the  beginning  of  this  Kingdom  on 
earth;  though  until  the  coming  of  the  King, 
there  is  no  authority  in  the  Church  exercising 
or  claiming  temporal  rule  or  dominion  among 
the  governments  of  earth.  Yet  the  Church  is 
none  the  less  the  beginning  of  the  Kingdom,  the 
germ  from  which  the  Kingdom  shall  develop. 

And  the  Church  must  be  in  direct  communi- 
cation with  the  heavenly  Kingdom  of  which  the 
earthly  Kingdom  when  established  shall  be  a 
part.  Of  such  a  nature  was  the  Church  in  so 


Revelation  to  the  Prophets.         113 

far  as  it  existed  before  the  time  of  Christ's 
earthly  ministry;  for  the  biblical  record  is  re- 
plete with  instances  of  direct  communication  be- 
tween the  prophets  and  their  God.  The  scrip- 
tures are  silent  as  to  a  single  dispensation  in 
which  the  spiritual  leaders  of  the  people  de- 
pended upon  the  records  of  earlier  times  and 
by-gone  ages  for  their  guidance ;  but  on  the  con- 
trary, the  evidence  is  complete  that  in  every 
stage  of  the  Church's  history  the  God  of  heaven 
communicated  his  mind  and  will  unto  his  earth- 
ly representatives.  Israel  of  old  were  led  and 
governed  in  all  matters  spiritual  and  to  a  great 
extent  in  their  temporal  affairs  by  the  direct 
word  of  revelation.  Noah  did  not  depend  upon 
the  record  of  God's  dealings  with  Adam  or 
Enoch,  but  was  directed  by  the  very  word  and 
voice  of  the  God  whom  he  represented.  Moses 
was  no  mere  theologian  trained  for  his  author- 
ity or  acts  on  what  God  had  said  to  Abraham, 
to  Isaac,  or  to  Jacob;  he  acted  in  accordance 
with  instructions  given  unto  him  from  time  to 
time,  as  the  circumstances  of  his  ministry  re- 
quired. And  so  on  through  all  the  line  of 
prophets,  major  and  minor,  down  to  the  priest 
of  the  course  of  Abia  unto  whom  the  angel  an- 


1 14    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

nounced  the  birth  of  John  who  was  to  be  the 
direct  fore-runner  of  the  Messiah. 

When  the  Christ  came  in  the  flesh  he  de- 
clared that  he  acted  not  of  himself  but  accord- 
ing to  instructions  given  him  of  the  Father. 
Thus  the  Messiah  was  a  revelator,  receiving 
while  in  the  flesh  communication  direct  and  fre- 
quent from  the  heavens.  By  such  revelation 
he  was  guided  in  his  earthly  ministry ;  by  such 
he  instructed  his  disciples ;  unto  such  he  taught 
his  apostles  to  look  for  safe  guidance  when  he 
would  have  left  them. 

During  his  earthly  ministry  Christ  called  and 
ordained  men  to  offices  in  the  Church.  We 
have  a  record  of  apostles  particularly,  number- 
ing twelve,  and  beside  these,  seventy  others  who 
were  commissioned  to  preach,  teach,  baptize  and 
perform  other  ordinances  of  the  Church.  After 
our  Lord's  departure,  we  read  of  the  apostles 
continuing  their  labors  in  the  light  of  continued 
revelation.  By  this  sure  guide  they  selected 
and  set  apart  those  who  were  to  officiate  in  the 
Church.  By  revelation,  Peter  was  directed  to 
carry  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles;  which  expan- 
sion of  the  work  was  inaugurated  by  the  con- 
version of  the  devout  Cornelius  and  his  house- 


Revelation  Necessary  Today.        115 

hold.  By  revelation,  Saul  of  Tarsus  became 
Paul  the  Apostle,  a  valiant  defender  of  the 
faith.  Holy  men  of  old  spake  and  wrote  as 
they  were  moved  upon  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
depended  not  upon  the  precedents  of  ancient 
history  nor  entirely  upon  the  law  then  already 
written.  They  operated  under  the  conviction 
that  the  living  Church  must  be  in  communica- 
tion with  its  living  Head ;  and  that  the  work  of 
God,  while  it  was  to  be  wrought  out  through 
the  instrumentality  of  man,  was  to  be  directed 
by  him  whose  work  it  was,  and  is. 

"Mormonism"  claims  the  same  necessity  to 
exist  today.  It  holds  that  it  is  no  more  nearly 
possible  now  than  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  an- 
cient prophets  or  in  the  apostolic  age  for  the 
Church  of  Christ  to  exist  without  direct  and 
continuous  revelation  from  God.  This  necessi- 
tates the  existence  and  authorized  ministrations 
of  prophets,  apostles,  high  priests,  seventies, 
elders,  bishops,  priests,  teachers  and  deacons, 
now  as  anciently — not  men  selected  by  men 
without  authority,  clothed  by  human  ceremonial 
alone,  nor  men  with  the  empty  names  of  office, 
but  men  who  bear  the  title  because  they  possess 
the  authority,  having  been  called  of  God. 


1 16    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

Is  it  unreasonable,  is  it  unphilosophical,  thus 
to  look  for  additional  light  and  knowledge? 
Shall  religion  be  the  one  department  of  human 
thought  and  effort  in  which  progression  is  im- 
possible? What  would  we  say  of  the  chemist, 
the  astronomer,  the  physicist,  or  the  geologist, 
who  would  proclaim  that  no  further  discovery 
or  revelation  of  scientific  truth  is  possible,  or 
who  would  declare  that  the  only  occupation 
open  to  students  of  science  is  to  con  the  books 
of  by-gone  times  and  to  apply  the  principles 
long  ago  made  known,  since  none  others  shall 
ever  be  discovered? 

The  chief  motive  impelling  to  research  and 
investigation  is  the  conviction  that  to  knowledge 
and  wisdom  there  is  no  end.  "Mormonism" 
affirms  that  all  wisdom  is  of  God,  that  the  halo 
of  his  glory  is  intelligence,  and  that  man  has  not 
yet  learned  all  there  is  to  learn  of  him  and  his 
ways.  We  hold  that  the  doctrine  of  continuous 
revelation  from  God  is  not  less  philosophical 
and  scientific  than  .scriptural. 


II. 

THE  Latter-day  Saints  affirm  that  the  au- 
thority to  act  in  the  name  of  God — the 
Holy  Priesthood — has  been  restored  to  earth  in 
this  dispensation  and  age,  in  accordance  with 
the  inspired  predictions  of  earlier  times.  But, 
it  may  be  asked,  what  necessity  was  there  for  a 
restoration  if  the  Priesthood  had  been  once  es- 
tablished upon  earth?  None  indeed,  had  it 
never  been  taken  away.  A  general  apostasy 
from  the  primitive  Church  is  conceded  in  effect 
by  some  authorities  in  ecclesiastical  history; 
though  few  admit  the  entire  discontinuance  of 
priestly  power,  or  the  full  suspension  of  author- 
ity to  operate  in  the  ordinances  of  the  Church. 
This  great  apostasy  was  foretold.  Paul  warned 
the  Saints  of  Thessalonica  against  those  who 
claimed  that  the  second  coming  of  Christ  was 
then  near  at  hand  :  "For,"  said  he,  "that  day  shall 
not  come  except  there  come  a  falling  away 
first."  (II  Thess.  2:3.)  "Mormonism"  contends 
that  there  has  been  a  general  falling  away  from 
the  Church  of  Christ,  dating  from  the  time  im- 
mediately following  the  apostolic  period.  We 


1 18    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

believe  that  the  proper  interpretation  of  history 
will  confirm  this  view ;  and,  moreover,  that  the 
inspired  scriptures  foretold  just  such  a  condi- 
tion.* 

If  the  Priesthood  had  been  once  taken  from 
the  earth  no  human  power  could  re-establish  it ; 
the  restoration  of  this  authority  from  heaven 
would  be  necessary.  The  Church  claims  that 
in  the  present  age  this  restoration  has  been 
effected  by  the  personal  ministrations  of  those 
who  exercised  the  authority  in  earlier  dispensa- 
tions. Thus,  in  1829,  Joseph  Smith  and  Oliver 
Cowdery  received  the  Lesser  or  Aaronic  Priest- 
hood under  the  hands  of  John  the  Baptist,  who 
visited  them  as  a  resurrected  being — the  same 
Baptist  who  by  special  and  divine  commission 
held  the  authority  of  that  Priesthood  in  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  "Meridian  of  Time."  Later, 
the  Higher  or  Melchizedek  Priesthood  was  con- 
ferred upon  them  through  the  personal  minis- 
trations of  Peter,  James,  and  John — the  same 
three  who  constituted  the  presidency  of  the 
apostolic  body  in  the  primitive  Church,  after 


*See    "The    Great    Apostasy;  Considered    in    the 

Light  of  Scriptural  and  Secular  History,"  by  James 

E.    Talmage.      Published    by    the  Deseret    News,    Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah;    176  pp. 


Holy  Priesthood  Restored.          1 19 

the  departure  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  whom 
it  was  founded. 

That  the  claim  is  a  bold  one  is  conceded  with- 
out argument.  The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of 
Latter-day  Saints  professes  to  have  the  Priest- 
hood of  old  restored  in  its  fulness;  and,  more- 
over, while  acknowledging  the  right  of  every 
individual  as  of  every  sect  or  other  organiza- 
tion of  individuals  to  believe  and  practise  ac- 
cording to  choice  in  matters  religious,  it  affirms 
that  it  is  the  only  Church  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  possessing  this  authority  and  Priesthood  ; 
and  that  therefore  it  is  The  Church  and  the  only 
Church  of  Christ  upon  the  earth  today.  It 
holds  as  absolutely  indispensable  to  proper 
Church  organization,  the  presence  of  the  living 
oracles  of  God  who  shall  be  directed  from  the 
heavens  in  their  earthly  ministry;  and  these, 
"Mormonism"  asserts,  are  to  be  found  with  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"Mormonism"  emphasizes  the  doctrine  that 
that  which  is  Caesar's  be  given  unto  Caesar, 
while  that  which  is  God's  be  rendered  unto  him.. 
Therefore,  it  teaches  that  all  things  pertaining 
unto  earth,  and  unto  man's  earthly  affairs,  may 
\vith  propriety  be  regulated  by  earthly  author- 


120    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

ity,  but  that  in  the  performance  of  any  ordi- 
nance, rite,  or  ceremony,  claimed  to  be  of  effect 
beyond  the  grave,  a  power  greater  than  that  of 
man  is  requisite  or  the  performance  is  void. 
Therefore,  membership  in  the  Church,  which, 
if  of  any  value  and  significance  at  all,  is  of  more 
than  temporal  meaning,  must  be  governed  by 
laws  which  are  prescribed  by  the  powers  of 
heaven.  "Mormonism"  recognizes  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  head  of  the  Church,  as  the  literal  Savior 
and  Redeemer  of  mankind,  as  the  King  of  kings 
and  Lord  of  lords,  as  the  One  whose  right  it  is 
to  reign  on  earth,  who  shall  yet  subdue  all 
worldly  kingdoms  under  his  feet,  who  shall 
present  the  earth  in  its  final  state  of  redemption 
to  the  Father.  It  is  his  right  to  prescribe  the 
conditions  under  which  mankind  may  be  made 
partakers  of  his  bounty  and  of  the  privileges  of 
the  victory  won  by  him  over  death  and  the 
grave. 

The  Church  claims  that  faith  in  God  is  essen- 
tial to  intelligent  service  of  him ;  and  that  faith, 
trust,  confidence  in  God  as  the  Father  of  man- 
kind, as  the  Supreme  Being  to  whom  all  shall 
render  account  of  their  deeds  and  misdeeds, 
must  lead  to  a  desire  to  serve  him  and  thus  pro- 


Faith,  Repentance,  Baptism.         121 

duce  repentance.  Faith  in  God  and  genuine  re- 
pentance of  sin,  of  necessity,  therefore  consti- 
tute the  fundamental  principles  of  the  gospel. 
It  is  reasonable  to  expect  that  after  man  has  de- 
veloped faith  in  God,  and  has  repented  of  his 
sins,  he  will  be  eager  to  find  a  means  of  demon- 
strating his  sincerity;  and  this  means  is  found 
in  the  requirement  concerning  baptism  as  essen- 
tial to  entrance  into  the  Church,  and  as  a  means 
whereby  remission  of  sins  may  be  obtained.  As 
to  the  mode  of  baptism,  the  Church  affirms  that 
immersion  alone  is  the  one  method  sanctioned 
by  scripture,  and  that  this  mode  has  been  ex- 
pressly prescribed  by  revelation  in  the  present 
dispensation. 

Water  baptism,  then,  becomes  a  basic  prin- 
ciple and  the  first  essential  ordinance  of  the  gos- 
pel. It  is  to  be  administered  by  one  having  au- 
thority; and  that  authority  rests  in  the  Priest- 
hood given  of  God.  Following  baptism  by 
water,  comes  the  ordinance  of  the  bestowal  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  by  the  authorized  imposition  of 
hands,  which  constitutes  the  true  baptism  of  the 
Spirit.  These  requirements,  designated  spe- 
cifically the  "first  principles  and  ordinances  of 
the  gospel,"  "Mormonism"  claims  to  be  abso- 


122    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

lutely  essential  to  membership  in  the  Church  of 
Christ,  and  this  without  modification  or  qualifi- 
cation as  to  the  time  at  which  the  individual 
lived  in  mortality. 

Then  with  propriety  it  may  be  asked : — What 
shall  become  of  those  who  lived  and  died  while 
the  Priesthood  was  not  operative  upon  the 
earth  ? — those  who  have  worked  out  their  mor- 
tal probation  during  the  ages  of  the  great  apos- 
tasy? Furthermore,  what  shall  be  the  destiny 
of  those  who,  though  living  in  a  time  of  spir- 
itual light,  perhaps  had  not  the  opportunity  of 
learning  and  obeying  the  gospel  requirements? 
Here  again  the  inherent  justice  of  "Mormon" 
philosophy  shows  itself  in  the  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion for  the  dead.  t  No  distinction  is  made  be- 
tween the  living  and  the  dead  in  the  solemn 
declaration  of  the  Savior  to  Nicodemus,  which 
appears  to  have  been  given  the  widest  possible 
application,  —  that  except  a  man  be  born  of 
water  and  of  the  spirit  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  (John  3  :l-5.) 

"Mormonism"  proclaims  something  more 
than  a  heaven  and  a  hell,  to  one  or  the  other  of 
which  all  spirits  of  men  shall  be  assigned,  per- 
haps on  the  basis  of  a  very  narrow  margin  of 


Progression  After  Death.  123 

merit  or  demerit.  As  it  affirms  the  existence 
of  an  infinite  range  of  graded  intelligences,  so 
it  claims  the  widest  and  fullest  gradation  of  con- 
ditions of  future  existence.  It  holds  that  the 
honest,  though,  perchance,  mistaken  soul  who 
lived  or  tried  to  live  according  to  the  light  he 
had  received,  shall  be  counted  among  the  hon- 
orable of  the  earth,  and  shall  find  opportunity, 
if  not  here  then  in  the  hereafter,  for  compliance 
with  the  requirements  essential  for  salvation.  It 
teaches  that  repentance  with  all  its  attendant 
blessings  shall  be  possible  beyond  the  grave ;  but 
that  inasmuch  as  the  change  we  call  death  does 
not  transform  the  character  of  the  soul,  repent- 
ance there  will  be  difficult  for  him  who  has  ruth- 
lessly and  wilfully  rejected  the  manifold  oppor- 
tunities afforded  him  for  repentance  here.  It 
asserts  that  even  the  heathen  devotee  who  may 
have  bo\ved  down  to  stocks  and  stones,  if  in  so 
doing  he  was  obeying  the  highest  law  of  wor- 
ship which  to  his  benighted  soul  had  come,  shall 
have  part  in  the  first  resurrection,  and  shall  be 
afforded  the  opportunity,  which  on  earth  he 
had  not  found,  of  doing  that  which  is  required 
of  God's  children  for  salvation.  And  for  all 
the  dead  who  have  been  without  the  privileges, 


124    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

perhaps  indeed  without  the  knowledge,  of  com- 
pliance with  Christ's  law,  there  shall  be  given 
opportunity  in  the  hereafter. 

Nevertheless,  this  life  of  ours  is  no  trifle,  no 
insignificant  incident  in  the  soul's  eternal  course, 
having  but  small  and  temporal  importance,  the 
omissions  of  which  can  be  rectified  with  ease  by 
the  individual  beyond  the  veil.  If  compliance 
with  the  divine  law  as  exemplified  by  the  re- 
quirements of  faith,  repentance,  baptism,  and 
the  bestowal  of  the  right  to  the  ministrations  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  are  essential  to  the  salvation  of 
those  few  who  just  now  are  counted  among  the 
living,  such  is  not  less  necessary  for  those  who 
once  were  living  but  now  are  dead.  Who  are 
the  living  of  today  but  those  who  shortly  shall 
be  added  to  the  uncounted  dead  ?  Who  are  the 
dead  but  those  who  at  some  time  have  lived  in 
mortality? 

Christ  has  been  ordained  to  be  judge  of  both 
quick  and  dead;  he  is  Lord  of  living  and  dead 
as  man  uses  these  terms,  for  all  live  unto  him. 
How  then  shall  the  dead  receive  the  blessings 
and  ordinances  denied  to  them  or  by  them  neg- 
lected while  in  the  flesh?  "Mormonism"  an- 
swers :  By  the  vicarious  work  of  the  living  in 


Vicarious  Labor  for  the  Dead.       125 

their  behalf!  It  was  this  great  and  privileged 
labor  to  which  the  prophet  Malachi  referred  in 
his  solemn  declaration,  that  before  the  great  and 
dreadful  day  of  the  Lord,  Elijah  should  be  sent 
with  the  commission  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the 
fathers  to  the  children  and  the  hearts  of  the 
children  to  the  fathers.  Elijah's  visitation  to 
earth  has  been  realized.  On  the  3rd  of  April, 
in  the  year  1836,  there  appeared  unto  Joseph 
Smith  and  Oliver  Cowdery,  in  the  temple  erect- 
ed by  the  Latter-day  Saints  at  Kirtland,  Ohio, 
Elijah  the  prophet,  who  announced  that  the  time 
spoken  of  by  Malachi  had  fully  come ;  then  and 
there  he  bestowed  the  authority,  for  this  dispen- 
sation, to  inaugurate  and  carry  on  this  labor  in 
behalf  of  the  departed. 

As  to  the  fidelity  with  which  the  Latter-day 
Saints  have  sought  to  discharge  the  duties  thus 
divinely  required  at  their  hands,  let  the  temples 
erected  in  poverty  as  in  relative  prosperity — by 
the  blood  and  tears  of  the  people — testify.  Two 
of  these  great  edifices  were  constructed  by  the 
Latter-day  Saints  in  the  days  of  their  tribula- 
tion, in  times  of  their  direst  persecution, — one 
at  Kirtland,  Ohio,  the  other  at  Nauvoo,  Illinois. 
The  first  is  still  standing,  though  no  longer  pos- 


126    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

sessed  by  the  people  who  built  it ;  and  no  longer 
employed  for  the  furtherance  of  the  purposes  of 
its  erection ;  the  second  fell  a  prey  to  flames  en- 
kindled by  mobocratic  hate.  Four  others  have 
been  constructed  in  the  vales  of  Utah,  and  are 
today  in  service,  dedicated  to  the  blessing  of  the 
living,  and  particularly  to  the  vicarious  labor  of 
the  living  in  behalf  of  the  dead.  In  them  the 
ordinances  of  baptism,  and  the  laying  on  of 
hands  for  the  bestowal  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  are 
performed  upon  the  living  representatives  of 
the  dead.* 

But  this  labor  for  the  dead  is  two-fold;  it 
comprises  the  proper  performance  of  the  re- 
quired ordinances  on  earth,  and  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel  to  the  departed.  Shall  we  sup- 
pose that  all  of  God's  good  gifts  to  his  children 
are  restricted  to  the  narrow  limits  of  mortal  ex- 
istence? We  are  told  of  the  inauguration  of 
this  great  missionary  labor  in  the  spirit  world, 


*For  a  detailed  treatment  of  Temples  and  Temple 
labor  among  the  Latter-day  Saints,  including  a  study 
of  the  doctrine  of  vicarious  labor  for  the  dead,  see 
"The  House  of  the  Lord,  a  Study  of  Holy  Sanctu- 
aries Ancient  and  Modern,"  including  forty-six  plates 
illustrative  of  modern  Temples;  by  James  E.  Tal- 
mage.  Published  by  the  Church:  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah;  336  pp. 


Christ's  Preaching  Among  the  Dead.  127 

as  effected  by  the  Christ  himself.  After  his 
resurrection,  and  immediately  following  the 
period  during  which  his  body  had  lain  in  the 
tomb  guarded  by  the  soldiery,  he  declared  to  the 
sorrowing  Magdalene  that  he  had  not  at  that 
time  ascended  to  his  Father ;  and,  in  the  light  of 
his  dying  promise  to  the  penitent  malefactor 
who  suffered  on  a  cross  by  his  side,  we  learn 
that  he  had  been  in  paradise.  Peter  also  tells  us 
of  his  labors — that  he  was  preaching  to  the 
spirits  in  prison,  to  those  who  had  been  disobe- 
dient in  the  days  of  Noah  when  the  long-suffer- 
ing of  God  waited  while  the  ark  was  preparing. 
If  it  was  deemed  necessary  or  just  that  the  gos- 
pel be  carried  to  spirits  that  were  disobedient  or 
neglectful  in  the  days  of  Noah,  are  we  justified 
in  concluding  that  others  who  have  rejected  or 
neglected  the  word  of  God  shall  be  left  in  a  state 
of  perpetual  condemnation  ? 

"Mormonism"  claims  that  not  only  shall  the 
gospel  be  carried  to  the  living,  and  be  preached 
to  every  creature,  but  that  the  great  missionary 
labor,  the  burden  of  which  has  been  placed  on 
the  Church,  must  of  necessity  be  extended  to  the 
realm  of  the  dead.  It  declares  unequivocally 
that  without  compliance  with  the  requirements 


128    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

established  by  Jesus  Christ,  no  soul  can  be  saved 
from  the  fate  of  the  condemned ;  but  that  oppor- 
tunity shall  be  given  to  every  one  in  the  season 
of  his  fitness  to  receive  it,  be  he  heathen  or  civ- 
ilized, living  or  dead. 

The  whole  duty  of  man  is  to  live  and  work 
according  to  the  highest  laws  of  right  made 
known  to  him,  to  walk  according  to  the  best 
light  that  has  been  shed  about  his  path;  and 
while  Justice  shall  deny  to  every  soul  that  has 
not  rendered  obedience  to  the  law,  entrance  into 
the  kingdom  of  the  blessed,  Mercy  shall  claim 
opportunity  for  all  who  have  shown  themselves 
willing  to  receive  the  truth  and  obey  its  behests. 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  "Mormonism"  offers 
no  modified  or  conditional  claims  as  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  compliance  with  the  laws  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  gospel  by  every  responsible  inhab- 
itant of  earth  unto  whom  salvation  shall  come. 
It  distinguishes  not  between  enlightened  and 
heathen  nations,  nor  between  men  of  high  and 
low  intelligence;  nor  even  between  the  living 
and  the  dead.  No  human  being  who  has  at- 
tained years  of  accountability  in  the  flesh,  may 
hope  for  salvation  in  the  kingdom  of  God  until 


Toleration  and  Acceptance.         129 

he  has  rendered  obedience  to  the  requirements 
of  Christ,  the  Redeemer  of  the  world. 

But  while  thus  decisive,  "Mormonism"  is  not 
exclusive.  It  does  not  claim  that  all  who  have 
failed  to  accept  and  obey  the  gospel  of  eternal 
life  shall  be  eternally  and  forever  damned. 
While  boldly  asserting  that  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  is  the  sole  reposi- 
tory of  the  Holy  Priesthood  as  now  restored  to 
earth,  it  teaches  and  demands  the  fullest  tolera- 
tion for  all  individuals,  and  organizations  of  in- 
dividuals, professing  righteousness;  and  holds 
that  each  shall  be  rewarded  for  the  measure  of 
good  he  has  wrought,  to  be  adjudged  in  accord- 
ance with  the  spiritual  knowledge  he  has 
gained.  For  such  high  claims  combined  with 
such  professions  of  tolerance,  the  Church  has 
been  accused  of  inconsistency.  Let  it  not  be  for- 
gotten, however,  that  toleration  is  not  accept- 
ance. I  may  believe  with  the  utmost  fulness 
of  my  soul's  powers  that  I  am  right  and  my 
neighbor  is  wrong  concerning  any  proposition 
or  principle;  but  such  conviction  gives  me  no 
semblance  of  right  for  interfering  with  his  ex- 
ercise of  freedom.  The  only  bounds  to  the  lib- 
erty of  an  individual  are  such  as  mark  the  lib- 


130    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

erty  of  another,  or  the  rights  of  the  community. 
God  himself  treats  as  sacred,  and  therefore  as 
inviolable,  the  freedom  of  the  human  soul. 

"Know  this,  that  every  soul  is  free 
To  choose  his  life  and  what  he'll  be ; 
For  this  eternal  truth  is  given, 
That  God  will  force  no  man  to  heaven. 

"He'll  call,  persuade,  direct  aright, 
Bless  him  with  wisdom,  love,  and  light ; 
In  nameless  ways  be  good  and  kind, 
But  never  force  the  human  mind." 

"Mormonism"  contends  that  no  man  or  na- 
tion possesses  the  right  to  forcibly  deprive  even 
the  heathen  of  his  right  to  worship  his  deity. 
Though  idolatry  has  been  marked  from  the  ear- 
liest ages  with  the  seal  of  divine  disfavor,  it 
may  represent  in  the  unenlightened  soul  the  sin- 
cerest  reverence  of  which  the  person  is  capable. 
He  should  be  taught  better,  but  not  compelled 
to  render  worship  which  to  him  is  false  because 
in  violation  of  his  conscience. 

In  further  defense  of  the  Latter-day  Saints 
against  the  charge  of  inconsistency  for  this  their 
tolerance  toward  others  whom  they  verily  be- 


Graded  Conditions.  131 

lieve  to  be  wrong,  let  me  again  urge  the  car- 
dinal principle  that  every  man  is  accountable 
for  his  acts,  and  shall  be  judged  in  the  light  of 
the  law  as  made  known  to  him. 

There  is  no  claim  of  universal  forgiveness; 
no  unwarranted  glorification  of  Mercy  to  the 
degrading  or  neglect  of  Justice ;  no  thought  that 
a  single  sin  of  omission  or  of  commission  shall 
fail  to  leave  its  wound  or  scar.  In  the  great 
future  there  shall  be  found  a  place  for  every 
soul,  whatever  his  grade  of  spiritual  intelligence 
may  be.  "In  my  Father's  house  are  many  man- 
sions," (John  14:2),  declared  the  Savior  to 
his  apostles ;  and  Paul  adds,  "There  are  also 
celestial  bodies,  and  bodies  terrestrial;  but  the 
glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of 
the  terrestrial  is  another.  There  is  one  glory 
of  the  sun  and  another  glory  of  the  moon  and 
another  glory  of  the  stars ;  for  one  star  differeth 
from  another  star  in  glory.  So  also  is  the  res- 
urrection of  the  dead/;  (I  Cor.  15  :40-42).  The 
Latter-day  Saints  claim  a  revelation  of  the  pres- 
ent dispensation  as  supplementing  the  scripture 
just  quoted.  From  this  later  scripture,  (see 
Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Sec.  76),  we  learn 
that  there  are  three  well-defined  degrees  in  the 


132    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

future  state,  with  numerous,  perhaps  number- 
less, gradations. 

There  is  the  celestial  state  provided  for  those 
who  have  lived  the  whole  law,  who  have  accept- 
ed the  testimony  of  the  Christ,  who  have  com- 
plied with  the  required  ordinances  of  the  gospel, 
who  have  been  valiant  in  the  cause  of  virtue  and 
truth.  Then  there  is  the  terrestrial  state,  com- 
parable to  the  first  as  is  the  moon  to  the  sun. 
This  shall  be  given  to  the  less  valiant,  to  many 
who  are  nevertheless  among  the  worthy  men  of 
the  earth,  but  who  perchance  have  been  de- 
ceived as  to  the  gospel  and  its  requirements. 
The  telestial  state  is  for  those  who  have  failed 
to  live  according  to  the  light  given  them ;  those 
who  have  had  to  suffer  the  results  of  their  sins ; 
those  who  have  been  of  Moses,  of  Paul,  of 
Apollos,  and  of  any  one  of  a  multitude  of 
others,  but  not  of  the  Christ. 

We  hold  that  there  is  a  wide  difference  be- 
tween salvation  and  exaltation;  that  there  are 
infinite  gradations  beyond  the  grave  as  there 
are  here,  and  as  there  were  in  the  state  preced- 
ing this. 

"Mormonism"  is  frequently  spoken  of  as  a 
new  religion,  and  the  Church  as  a  new  church, 


The  Gospel  of  Old.  133 

a  mere  addition  of  one  to  the  many  sects  that 
have  so  long  striven  for  recognition  and  ascend- 
ency among  men.  It  is  new  only  as  the  spring- 
time following  the  darkness  and  the  cold  of  the 
year's  night  is  new.  The  Church  is  a  new  one 
only  as  the  ripening  fruit  is  a  new  development 
in  the  course  of  the  tree's  growth.  In  a  gen- 
eral and  true  sense,  "Mormonism"  is  not  new 
to  the  world.  It  is  founded  on  the  gospel  of 
Christ  which  antedates  this  earth.  The  estab- 
lishment of  the  Church  in  the  present  age  was 
but  a  restoration.  True,  the  Church  is  pro- 
gressive as  it  ever  has  been ;  it  is  therefore  pro- 
ductive of  more  and  greater  things  as  the  years 
link  themselves  into  the  centuries ;  but  the  living 
seed  contains  within  its  husk  all  the  possibilities 
of  the  mature  plant. 

This  so-called  new,  modern  gospel  is  in  fact 
the  old  one,  the  first  one,  come  again.  It  de- 
mands the  organization  and  the  authority  char- 
acteristic of  the  Church  in  former  days,  when 
there  was  a  Church  of  God  upon  the  earth;  it 
expects  no  more  consideration,  and  scarcely 
hopes  for  greater  popularity,  than  were  accord- 
ed the  primitive  Church.  Opposition,  persecu- 
tion, and  martyrdom  have  been  its  portion,  but 


134    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

these  tribulations  it  accepts,  knowing  well  that 
to  bear  such  has  been  the  lot  of  the  true  Church 
in  every  age. 

"Mormonism"  is  more  than  a  code  of  morals ; 
it  claims  a  higher  rank  than  that  of  an  organi- 
zation of  men  planned  and  instituted  by  the 
wisdom  and  philosophy  of  men,  however 
worthy.  It  draws  a  distinction  between  moral- 
ity and  religion;  and  affirms  that  human  duty 
is  not  comprised  in  a  mere  avoidance  of  sin. 
It  regards  the  strictest  morality  as  an  indispen- 
sable feature  of  every  religious  system  claiming 
in  any  degree  divine  recognition;  and  yet  it 
looks  upon  morality  as  but  the  alphabet  from 
which  the  words  and  sentences  of  a  truly  relig- 
ious life  may  be  framed.  However  euphonious 
the  words,  however  eloquent  the  periods,  to 
make  the  writing  of  highest  worth  there  must 
be  present  the  divine  thought ;  and  this,  man  of 
himself  cannot  conceive. 

It  affirms  that  there  was  a  yesterday  as  there 
is  a  today,  and  shall  be  a  tomorrow,  in  the  deal- 
ings of  God  with  men;  that 

Through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs ; 
and  that  purpose, — the  working  out  of  a  divine 


Christ  to  Return  to  Earth.          135 

plan,  the  ultimate  object  of  which  is  the  salva- 
tion and  exaltation  of  the  human  family. 

The  central  feature  of  that  plan  was  the 
earthly  ministry  and  redeeming  sacrifice  of  the 
Christ  in  the  meridian  of  time ;  the  consumma- 
tion shall  be  ushered  in  by  the  return  of  that 
same  Christ  to  earth  as  the  Rewarder  of  right- 
eousness, the  Avenger  of  iniquity,  and  as  the 
world's  Judge. 

The  Church  holds  that  in  the  light  of  revela- 
tion, ancient  and  modern,  and  by  a  fair  inter- 
pretation of  the  signs  of  the  times,  the  second 
coming  of  the  Redeemer  is  near  at  hand.  The 
present  is  the  final  dispensation  of  the  earth  in 
its  present  state ;  these  are  the  last  days  of  which 
the  prophets  in  all  ages  have  sung. 

But  of  what  use  are  theories  and  philosophies 
of  religion  without  practical  application?  Of 
what  avail  is  belief  as  a  mere  mental  assent  or 
denial  ?  Let  it  develop  into  virile  faith ;  vitalize 
it ;  animate  it ;  then  it  becomes  a  moving  power. 
The  Latter-day  Saints  point  with  some  confi- 
dence to  what  they  have  attempted  and  begun, 
and  to  the  little  they  have  already  done  in  the 
line  of  their  convictions,  as  proof  of  their  sin- 
cerity. 


136    The  Philosophy  of  "Mormonism." 

For  the  second  coming  of  the  Redeemer, 
preparation  is  demanded  of  men ;  and  today, 
instead  of  the  single  priest  crying  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Judaea,  there  are  thousands  going  forth 
among  the  nations  with  a  message  as  definite 
and  as  important  as  that  of  the  Baptist;  and 
their  proclamation  is  a  reiteration  of  the  voice 
in  the  desert — "Repent  Repent !  for  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  is  at  hand." 

The  philosophy  of  "Mormonism"  rests  on 
the  literal  acceptance  of  a  living,  personal  God, 
and  on  the  mire  served  compliance  with  his  law 
as  from  time  to  time  revealed. 


